Boston, USA - The state's highest court deals a severe setback to Roman Catholic parishioners trying to stop the archdiocese from closing their churches.
The Supreme Judicial Court says it doesn't have the constitutional right to interfere in religious matters.
The decision allows the Boston Archdiocese to sell Saint James the Great Church in Wellesley, which was closed by the archdiocese in 2004.
The family that sold the archdiocese eight acres of land to open Saint James 60 years ago challenged the archdiocese's right to close the church and sell its assets.
A woman who donated $$35,000 to refurbish the church building was also involved in the lawsuit.
They argued that the archdiocese merely held the church in trust.
But the court says the claims are matters of internal church governance that the First Amendment forbids them from considering.