HARTFORD — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford announced over the weekend that 59 parishes across three counties will be merged, and 26 of those buildings will close.
Waterbury will be seeing some of the biggest impact of that plan as six parishes will become one. Four church buildings, St. Stanislaus, St. Margaret, Sacred Heart and St. Lucy, will close their doors for good.
Their parishioners are being asked to join those of Our Lady Of Lorde and St. Ann's, who's church buildings will remain open and operational.
"We're kind of bummed out about it. It's unfortunate because it does improve this part of the street this end of the block just having it there." said Bob Mcatee.
St. Lucy. like St. Stanislaus, was established roughly a century ago as an ethic parish, for Italian and Polish immigrants, a population the archdiocese says is dwindling.
But for Sacred Heart, the archdiocese says the building can no longer fit all it's parishioners, triggering the need for more space.
The six merging parishes in the Brass City will now be called All Saints or Todas Los Santos, and will attend mass at St. Anne Church.
Hartford community members were dealing with the same issues.
"I'm devastated about it, these churches are needed in the community they help a lot of homeless," said Tamara Cunningham.
Archbishop Leonard Blair said Sunday at St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield that the new structure, slated to take effect June 29, is meant to create stability throughout the archdiocese and reinvigorate faith in the state.
"That means not many catholic go to church anymore," said Giuseppe Abbatemarco, a West Hartford resident.
Click link here for full list of closures, mergers.
The archdiocese currently oversees 212 parishes in Hartford, Litchfield and New Haven counties. That number is expected to drop to 127. The church anticipates shrinking to 85 pastorates by 2027.
Some churches may be re-purposed into such things as youth centers or homeless shelters.
The archdiocese began working on a consolidation plan last spring due to factors such as a declining number of priests and lower attendance at Masses.
