Canon law -- the legal rules that guide church operations and decision-making -- allows a local bishop to close any parish as long as his decision is made with the best interests of the entire diocese in mind.

The responsibilities of a bishop regarding the opening or closing of a parish are covered in Canon 515, which was cited in a recent series of decrees issued by a panel of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature, the church's highest court, in deciding the appeals of 10 closed parishes in the Archdiocese of Boston.

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