BOSTON (AP) – Parishioners in Newton planned to join the growing number of Catholic communities that have occupied their churches in protest of their planned closure, while such demonstrations continued at two other Boston-area parishes.

In the latest development, parishioners at St. Bernard’s in West Newton announced Wednesday that their sit-in would begin on Oct. 24, the day of the last scheduled Mass.

The movement began Aug. 29 at St. Albert the Great in Weymouth, when parishioners began staging a sit-in that has continued for nearly three weeks, despite a judge’s ruling Wednesday that dealt a blow to their attempts to keep the parish open.

Churchgoers at St. Anselm in Sudbury began their occupation last Sunday, in anticipation of the parish’s scheduled closing this week. The keys to the church were supposed to be turned over to a real estate company hired by the archdiocese at noon on Wednesday, but some 160 members and supporters were on hand for a prayer vigil at the time.

“It’s 12:15, and we’re still open,” parish finance council member Jack Ryan announced to a standing ovation.

Richard Rowland, a member of St. Bernard’s, told The Boston Globe that as many as 60 people had already signed up for the sit-in. “We have written letters and petitions, and there has been no response, other than to say, We’re closing you, sorry,”‘ he said.

The three parishes are among the 82 that Archbishop Sean O’Malley ordered closed by year’s end in a major restructuring prompted by falling attendance and economic woes caused partly by the clergy sex abuse scandal, which started in Boston.

The St. Albert’s parishioners lost the first round of their court battle to save the church.

In his Wednesday ruling, Superior Court Thomas E. Connolly turned down their request for a preliminary injunction that would have barred the archdiocese from selling the church building and other assets.

He rejected their claim that the church belongs to the parishioners, and not to the archdiocese. But the judge did not dismiss the lawsuit altogether, leaving the parishioners with some hope that they could still keep their church from closing.

“In making this finding, the Court fully appreciates the hurt and suffering and loss suffered by the plaintiffs,” Connolly wrote in a footnote to the ruling. “The Court simply is prohibited by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution from involving itself in such a dispute between members of the Church.”

Undaunted, the parishioners planned to continue their occupation and to press their case in court, spokesman Colin Riley said.

“We own the property,” he said. “We’re merely holding a vigil. We built the property, we paid for it, we own the property.”

The Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said church leaders had not taken any action at St. Anselm’s or St. Albert’s because O’Malley is not interested in a confrontation.

Coyne also said the archdiocese is looking for a mediator to help resolve the standoffs and acknowledged concerns that parishioners from other churches scheduled to close by the end of the year will also decide to stage sit-ins.