Boston's faithful are helping fund maintenance costs of 14 closed churches that costs the archdiocese $880,000 in maintenance bill every year. The bill includes heat, insurance and maintenance costs.

Five of the 14 churches are occupied by parishioners who did not accept the closure order. Archdiocese chancellor James McDonough said the church wants to sell the closed properties but some are involved in lawsuits and canon law appeals. Others are just empty shells no longer used for Catholic rites.

Since 2004, the archdiocese had closed or merged 75 parishes to cut costs. Part of the reason behind this is the dwindling church attendance and the erosion of faith in clergy with the rising number of priests involved in sex scandals.

Among the state clergy facing sex offenses are 20 Bostonian priests who have been accused by 40 victims of abuse. Their cases are handled by lawyer Carmen Durso, who helped draft House Bill 1895 that seeks to repeal criminal statute of limitations for rape and other sex offenses committed against children, including those done by men and women in cloth.

If the 14 churches are sold, it would only raise $62.7 million, much lesser than what the diocese had anticipated.