Mass. high court sides with residents challenging $850K Catholic statues on public building

August 21, 2026

Massachusetts’ highest court has upheld a block on a city effort to display two 10-foot-tall bronze statues of Saint Michael the Archangel and Saint Florianon a new government building.

According to the Christian Post, Quincy city officials were recently sued by an interfaith group of residents opposed to adding statues of the Catholic saints to the building’s façade.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a ruling on Thursday in Fitzmaurice et al. v. City of Quincy, affirming a lower court’s preliminary injunction blocking the installation of the statues.

However, the Christian Post reports that the ruling does not resolve the underlying lawsuit, which continues in Norfolk Superior Court.

In the ruling, Justice Scott L. Kafker authored the unanimous court opinion, writing that while the two saints “have both religious and secular significance,” they are “closely associated with the Catholic faith” and thus “could be viewed by the public as endorsement of a particular religion.”

Claire Fitzmaurice, a Quincy resident and lead plaintiff in the case, welcomed the ruling, saying, To have these imposing religious statues looming over the entrance of the public safety building would fly in the face of that pluralistic ideal — especially as our city continues to grow more diverse.”

In an interview with AM Quincy in February 2025, Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch defended the statutes, calling them “beautiful public art” that he does not consider “specifically as religious.”

Last October, Massachusetts Superior Court Justice William F. Sullivan issued a preliminary injunction against Quincy officials from including the two statues on the façade.
 

Photo: top, Credit: Getty Images