The Diocese of Providence announced at Masses over the weekend that several parishes will merge or close across Rhode Island, effective immediately.
“After consulting the Council of Priests, Most Rev. Bruce A. Lewandowski, CSsR, bishop of Providence, approved the requests of the pastors, trustees, and finance councils of several parishes in the Diocese of Providence,” read a statement from the diocese issued May 11.
St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Warren will merge into St. Mary of the Bay Parish, but the St. Thomas building will remain open as a worship site.
“Declining Mass attendance, limited sacramental activity, and the dearth of parish activities indicated the broader mission for which these parishes were established demands a new configuration to better meet the needs of the Catholic faithful in Warren,” the statement read.
In East Providence, St. Brendan Parish and St. Martha Parish will merge into a combined “Sts. Brendan and Martha Parish,” though both current worship sites will remain part of the newly created parish.
In a statement to EWTN News, Michael Lavigne, Diocese of Providence secretary for evangelization and pastoral planning, said the merging of “SS. Brendan and Martha is a good news story in that they have been working together with a shared pastor for three years and collectively came to the conclusion they would be stronger together for mission if they merged.”
“St. Thomas was a struggling Portuguese parish that will now be anchored within a vibrant parish,” he said.
Additionally, St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Church, which was established as a quasi-parish in 2008 by Bishop Thomas Tobin, has been “canonically suppressed” due to limited Mass attendance and sacramental activity following the retirement of its priest-administrator.
Lavigne said the diocese will “try to repurpose the property for mission.”
The diocese says sacramental records from St. Kateri’s will be “faithfully maintained” by St. Bernard Parish.
Lavigne said the diocese is “trying to answer: ‘What is God calling us to do in each area … so that we are serving the Churchʼs mission more faithfully and effectively?’”
Citing “a shortage of available priests and deteriorating buildings and resources,” he said “the mission remains the same: to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our brothers and sisters throughout Rhode Island.”
Michael Kieloch, director of communications and public relations for the Diocese of Providence, told EWTN News: “These changes to parish structures … will result in stronger parishes built for mission and growth.”
“It is not so much a factor of decline but rather populations have shifted and some apostolates come and go with time yet the Church’s mission remains strong,” Kieloch said.
“The Diocese of Providence recently saw a significant increase in people entering the Church at this year’s Easter Vigil, and we see across many parishes the growth in young people and young families. We will continue to evaluate how and where best to shift the Church’s resources to be where there is growth and need,” he added.
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