Sadness grips closed churches, but some gear for appeals
With a heavy heart, Nick Giacobbe, a devout parishioner at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Revere, signed for the
"I was consecrating the Eucharist," said the Rev. Thomas Keyes, pastor of the small parish in Beachmont. "I had just elevated the chalice. . . . I put it down, genuflected, and said to myself, 'Now what do I do?' "
Keyes couldn't leave the altar. The FedEx worker left the church. No one was at the rectory to sign for the special delivery from Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley. Keyes looked to Giacobbe, who was seated at the back of the church with his wife, Marie. "I said, 'Nick. Go get the letter from the FedEx man.' "
Giacobbe complied. "I met the guy outside," recalled Giacobbe, 72. "I said to him, 'I think I know what you have, and I really don't want to take it.' I did take it . . . but I almost didn't want to come in with it. This is not an easy time for Catholics."
After Communion, Keyes read the letter from the altar to the 30 parishioners gathered. There were hugs and tears. Nick and Marie, married 46 years ago at the church, headed outside to a garden, where they prayed the rosary, along with four others. "We had decided we would do that, whatever the decision was," said Giacobbe, a lector and eucharistic minister at the church. "We wanted strength. . . . We were bawling in church. Our church will be 100 years old next year."
Angst and joy rolled over area parishes last week, as the Archdiocese of Boston released its long-awaited closing list. Church bells pealed at parishes spared from the list of 65 parishes, but 12 area parishes weren't so lucky. Two parishes each will close in Salem, Gloucester, and Beverly, along with parishes in Everett, Lynn, Malden, Revere, Rockport, and Wakefield. Clergy and parishioners in some of those churches already plan to file appeals with O'Malley, they said.
In the Merrimack Valley, churches in Georgetown, Rowley, Merrimac, Groveland, and West Newbury got a brief reprieve. The small town parishes have until June 2006 to come up with a plan for the five parishes to operate with two priests, according to the letter sent by O'Malley.
A lack of priests to serve the 2 million Catholics in Greater Boston is a key factor in the historic reconfiguration. Dwindling Mass attendance and financial problems are others. By next month, affected parishes will learn when they will close, and what new parishes they'll be assigned to. The closings will be staggered over the next six months, the archdiocese said.
Auxiliary Bishop Francis X. Irwin, who oversees the area north of Boston, said the closings could have been worse. "Quite truthfully, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Irwin said in an interview. "I think a lot of thought and sensitivity went into this."
Irwin said he knows parishioners will be upset, but asked people to be faithful in the spirit of Pentecost, which Christians celebrate today. The holy day marks the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Christ's apostles. "There have been a lot of anxious moments for people over the last few months," Irwin said. "But now that we know who will be closing, it soon will be up to all of us to welcome new parishioners and try to get along in the spirit of Pentecost."
But the faithful say that won't be easy. "I come to this church everyday," said Lee Russo, 78, who walks to 7 p.m. Mass every night at St. Peter Church in Malden, the small Italian national parish slated to closed. "I don't even have to cross the street to get here. Where do I go now? Immaculate Conception? How will I get there? Take two buses?"
"This is sad," said Gertrude Morin, 72, who attends daily Mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Salem. "This closing will affect so much more than just taking away a place to go to church."
The closing of St. Joseph's in Salem, a 131-year-old church, stunned parishioners. The parish runs Salem's last Catholic elementary school, a food pantry that feeds 3,000 people each month, and has a vibrant and growing Hispanic population.
The archdiocese said it plans to keep St. Joseph's School open, although it's not clear where the school will be based. Still, the Rev. Lawrence Rondeau will make the 188-student school a key part of the appeal he will file with O'Malley, he said.
"I hope and pray we can [change] the decision," Rondeau said. "Because of the poor we serve, because of our Hispanic apostolate, and because of our young people."
Rondeau acknowledged that St. Joseph's sacramental index -- a tally of baptisms, weddings, and funerals used to measure parish activity -- was lower than other Salem churches, but feels St. Joe's community outreach was overlooked. "We had some negatives if you go by the index," Rondeau said. "But we more than made up for it with our ministries."
Also selected for closing in Salem was St. Thomas the Apostle Church, which is on the Peabody line.
Other churches also plan to appeal. In Wakefield, the Rev. Joseph Murphy, pastor of St. Florence parish, wrote a letter of appeal last Wednesday. "I don't understand it," Murphy said of the parish, one of three Catholic churches in Wakefield. "We were doing so well. We have 1,400 families. We have a lot of people. . . . I think we're as good as any other parish out there."
At St. Peter's in Malden, parishioners are gearing up for a fight. When the parish was recommended to close, parishioners sent a letter to O'Malley pleading to keep the parish open. The parish has ministered to generations of Italian families since its founding as a small mission in 1923, they said.
"We know he had a hard job," said Maria D'Orsi, a parishioner who signed the first letter to O'Malley. "But we wanted him to be aware of the unique place this parish holds in Malden. We never heard from him."
D'Orsi said St. Peter's food pantry shows the small parish is needed in the community. "We run the only food pantry. It feeds so many people. . . . Our families built this church. We can't stand for this," she said.
St. Peter's parishioners will have to fight without help from their pulpit. The Rev. John Paris, who has been the acting administrator at the parish since the pastor retired two years ago, said he supports O'Malley. "I see the necessity of closing the churches," Paris said in a brief interview after Mass last week.
Other clergy are asking parishioners to consider the greater good. "I feel bad for the people," said Keyes, the pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes. "When I read the letter, I shared their sadness. . . . But soon, they'll be redoing parish lines. I believe we can move on, together, as Catholics."
Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com
