Questions part of St. John the Baptist Parish’s closing

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

EAST BROOKFIELD – At the last Mass at St. John the Baptist Parish, parishioners expressed sadness about losing their church and priests, and spoke of plans to keep the faith – elsewhere.

And attempts were made to help them celebrate the good they’ve experienced there.
Effective July 1, that church, along with St. Mary Oratory in Brookfield, was closed and merged with Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish in West Brookfield and St. Joseph Parish in North Brookfield, now one parish called Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish.

Some parishioners are still asking why St. John’s closed.

One hundred and fifty people, mostly from St. John the Baptist but also some from St. Mary Oratory, signed a petition addressed to Bishop McManus opposing the closing of St. John’s, said Denise “Dee” Charpentier, a St. John’s member who wrote the petition. (St. Mary’s, once a parish, had been an oratory of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish in West Brookfield since 2011.)

The petition asked that “the diocese reconsider this decision” and proposed a pause on closing St. John’s to “allow for open dialogue with parishioners and stakeholders” and “transparency regarding the reasons behind the closure and the criteria used to make this determination.”

“Of course we’d like our church back,” Mrs. Charpentier told The Catholic Free Press, but at least they’d like to talk with Bishop McManus.

She said she mailed the petition to him, then repeatedly called and talked with his secretary, who told her June 25 that the bishop would not speak to her.

On Monday Bishop McManus issued an open letter to parishioners of the Brookfields. (See page 4).

Father Joseph D. Rice, administrator of St. John’s, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and St. Mary’s, and St. Joseph Parish, responded to Catholic Free Press questions about parishioners’ complaints. As of July 1, Father Rice is on medical leave and Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish has a new pastor.

Having fewer priests could have led to the closing of any of the churches. St. Mary’s had low attendance – 30 people at the most – at its Saturday evening Mass, he said, citing costs of keeping a church open for one Mass per week.

Heating St. John’s costs about $18,000 annually, he said, and its multiple-zone electric heating system installed in 1969 is likely to need replacing, for an estimated cost of $320,000. He said St. Joseph’s and Sacred Heart, which use oil, cost less to heat.

Neither of those church buildings need major repairs, though Sacred Heart’s center needs its basement reconstructed, he said, adding that work at that campus would cost about $100,000 altogether.

“The decision was not made to simply seek funds to sink into other properties,” Bishop McManus said in his letter to the Brookfields. That would put parishes in “a delayed survival mode.” Instead, pastoral planning is a tool to help them look at how they can, with their resources, become more spiritually vibrant and draw others to God.

Addressing the complaint about lack of transparency, Bishop McManus said it was the job of each parish to communicate the pastoral planning process with parishioners.

Father Rice said all the information was in the parish bulletins, and the secretaries were to post it on the websites and Facebook pages too.

He said he did not choose people for the parishes’ pastoral planning committee – it was composed of four volunteers from each of the three parishes, and parish council members, and they started meeting last August.

Members of that committee were also on individual parish subcommittees that submitted proposals, he said. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart submitted two proposals, the others each submitted one. Three of those proposals were sent to the Diocesan Pastoral Planning Committee. It made recommendations to the bishop, who issued the decree, announcing his decisions.

“This is my third church closing,” said St. John’s parishioner Kathy Dupuis, a member of St. Mary Parish in Spencer before it was razed and St. Mary’s in Brookfield before it was merged.

Maureen Caramiello, a St. Joseph’s Parish Council member, said she attended the final Masses at St. Mary’s and St. John’s, as did some of her fellow parishioners and members of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, to support the people whose churches were closing. She said she also went because their priests were leaving and musicians Eva and Dave Brown were retiring.

Kathryn Mateucci said the hardest thing is losing the spiritual family at St. John’s, where her children grew up, but she thinks most members will choose another church.

“We take our faith with us,” she said, but “trying to join a new community is the hard part.”

“We’re very sad,” having formed relationships and done ministry at St. John’s, said Elizabeth Flory. “But we’ll continue on in our faith,” attending Mary, Queen of the Rosary Parish in Spencer, one of her former parishes.

Preaching at St. John’s closing Mass, Father Donald C. Ouellette, associate pastor of the Brookfields’ parishes until June 30, sounded similar themes. He encouraged parishioners to acknowledge the goodness there, and, wherever they go, “our lives of faith will indeed be enhanced in company with one another.”

At the reception he tried to involve parishioners and priests (including former pastor Father George A. Charland) in recounting parish history and identifying photos.

The audience applauded when priests who served there were named, and when Father Ouellette concluded with: “Please know that the relationships formed and the spirit of St. John’s will live on ... always.”