Church closures met with sadness and acceptance in Saint John

Some parishioners in Saint John who learned during Sunday mass that their churches will be closing this year say the news, while not a total shock, has left them with sadness and questions about the future. 

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint John has announced it plans to close nine churches in New Brunswick and merge 58 parishes into 27.

With five churches due to close by September, the Saint John region is the hardest hit by the move.

After leaving Sunday mass at Saint John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church, Myra Murphy said "the writing was on the wall." 

• 9 Catholic churches in Saint John diocese to shut doors
• Future of some Catholic churches in doubt as Saint John diocese struggles

Murphy, who has been the parish nurse for the last 13 years, said she's concerned the closure will affect her fellow parishioners as well as the community members they've helped.

The church has been a crucial course of outreach to disadvantaged and homeless people in the area, she said. 

"This has been a beacon in the south end," Murphy said, adding that she didn't know who would serve those people when her parish merges with the cathedral's.

After three decades attending the same church, Ann Barrett said it will be hard to say goodbye.

"The church meant so much," she said. "Baptisms ... marriages, just so many things have happened here."

Barrett and her fellow parishioners were told they will have to go to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Waterloo Street. She has concerns that seniors and people with mobility issues won't be able to get there.

But upset as she may be about the closure of her church, Barrett said she thinks the bishop's move to restructure doesn't go far enough.  

"Having fewer churches even than he's leaving now, should have been a better solution," she said. 

The closures will also affect people who travel to Holy Trinity Catholic Church, which offers the only traditional Latin mass for the diocese. It is slated to close by September.

Once a month, Rebecca Procure and Jamey Guerrero drive from Fredericton to attend the special mass.

"We're hoping it will end up at a different church, but we don't really know," she said.

Procure and Guerrero's church in Fredericton, the Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Parish Church, is the only one in the city scheduled to close. Yet they remain optimistic about the future of the diocese.

"Pope Benedict said that the church has to get smaller before it gets bigger again," said Procure. "I think we're right in the middle of that."