In 2011 a number of former parish members, known as the Friends of Mater Dolorosa, organized a sit-in, and were taken to court by the diocese in an attempt to order them removed.

[2] Briefly the diocese struck a deal with the city's Mayor Alex Morse, to purchase the building for $50,000 to be used for a transition program for school children with special needs.

[3] Citing the month deadline given and an absence of negotiations allowed by the diocese, the city council unanimously rejected the purchase on June 28, 2018.

[4] On December 11, 2018, immediately with the issuance of a demolition permit to the Diocese, the parish building was razed; although its stained glass was removed and sold at that time, the ornate painted panelling adorning its halls was not salvaged.

[5] Despite previous statements by a diocesan spokesman that it was against "universal church law" to sell sacred objects to non-church entities when negotiating with the city, on December 21, 2018, the Mater Dolorosa Preservation group reported finding the church's former stained glass for sale in a salvage shop in Minnesota.