Bishop George W. Coleman of the Fall River Diocese will be joining Boston Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley when O'Mal ley visits Rome this week to talk with the Pope and Vatican officials about the clergy sex abuse issue, and the overhaul of his archdiocese that includes the closing of 82 of the 357 parishes.

Coleman, in a letter to parishioners distributed at weekend Masses, said shifts of population from cities to sub urbs and a decline in the num ber of priests and church attendance call for a configu ration of the diocese. The Fall River Diocese has 96 parishes and 28 schools for a population of about 346,000 Catholics. The Fall River Diocese includes the communities of Attle boro, North Attleboro, Norton, Mansfield, Seekonk and Rehoboth.

For completete story, see today's Sun Chronicle.