The sit-ins at two “closed” Catholic churches continue — and angry parishoners of other Boston archdiocese churchs slated for closing are starting to make plans to join them. This is a delicate situation. US Catholics tend to drift away from the church in midlife and return with vigor once they hit retirement age and death looms on the horizon. I’m guessing that the protestors are mainly these elderly members of the congregations.They have a lot of time on their hands in between trips to the bank and CVS. The archdiocese is in for what Rumsfeld would call a long, hard slog.
This line from an AP story made me chuckle:

“[A diocese spokesman] said the church is concerned about the sit-ins, which he said raise safety and liability concerns and have troubled some Catholics who think it is inappropriate for people to be sleeping in a worship area.”

I would estimate that 30-40% of the attendees at 9:45 mass each week are in deep slumber. Another 20% are half-asleep, going through the sit-kneel-stand motions in a fuzzy-brained state.