Five Closing Churches Celebrate Last Mass

WORCESTER, Mass. -- Five Worcester churches held their last Mass on Sunday, forced to close their doors because of low attendance and few sacraments.

NewsCenter 5’s Lynn Jolicoeur reported that the closings of St. Margaret Mary, St. Casimir, Ascension, Holy Name of Jesus and Notre Dame des Canadiens follow a five-year review from the Diocese and parish focus groups.

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“We used to decorate the altars, put the flowers up, and everything had to be perfect,” said parishioner Christine LaPlante.

“We had one or two baptisms a year, a few weddings, mostly funerals,” said parishioner Diane Leufstadt. “It’s time to take a rest and then probably get involved in another church, because that’s the kind of people we are.”

The churches will merge into existing churches, which will now be responsible for their assets and liabilities.

“There are new parishes that are coming out of this that hopefully will have a broader sense of their community and an ability for multiple generations to be sharing the faith with each other,” said Diocese spokesman Ray Delisle.

St. Casimir is the only one of the five churches organizing an appeal to the closing. Parish members put crosses on the front lawn as part of their protest.

The Diocese of Worcester is predicting more closings and consolidations over the next couple of years.