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London restructuring sees six Windsor parishes close |
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Written by Ron Stang, Catholic Register Special
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Friday, 29 June 2007 |
 St. Rose of Lima Church, Windsor, ON
St. Rose parishioners, in making the plea June 25 to the city for the designation, emphasized that the call for the designation of the 1924 building — the oldest in the area — had nothing to do with the diocese of London’s decision to shutter the church.
“We’re not saying it’s not their building,” life-long parishioner and church building committee member Frank Chauvin said. But holding a petition of 478 names of parishioners and neighbourhood residents he told councillors “it would be a crime” to demolish the church.
The designation means the diocese will not be able to make major alterations to the building’s exterior, including tearing it down, without special permission. The diocese had argued against the designation, saying it could affect how it decides to dispose of the property.
Earlier, Chauvin said that St. Rose is the “mother church” of as many as four other parishes on Windsor’s east side, “all derived from St. Rose,” and that the church was a community “beacon” for Riverside.
He also said the decision to close St. Rose, one of six church closures in the Windsor Deanery announced at Masses over the June 23-24 weekend, as well as the reorganization of other parishes in the city and in the neighbouring Kent Deanery, came out of the blue.
“We had no idea it was coming.”
Chauvin added that, unlike other parishes such as the city’s Assumption which needs $6 million in upgrades, St. Rose had no debt, no major items needing repair and “we were paying our bills.” In 2004 it had almost 800 families.
The diocese says the church, along with St. Thomas the Apostle Church, will close in June of next year with the congregations absorbed by Our Lady of Guadalupe parish.
Meanwhile, two other parishes on Windsor’s east side will close. Our Lady of the Rosary, another older church which is a dominant feature of the city’s riverfront, and St. Anne Church will be closed by October. Holy Name of Mary parish, in the west end, will close next year and Blessed Sacrament parish stays open until 2011. St. Patrick is to be assessed with a plan to be ready by 2011.
This round of decisions was essentially the last for the remaining pockets of parishes that required further study following the initial round of closures and reorganizations that took place across the diocese in April 2006. Then, Bishop Ronald Fabbro announced 36 parishes would close, 10 would merge or cluster and six new parishes would be established.
In Kent, Chatham’s St. Agnes and Blessed Sacrament will be clustered and served by a resident pastor by June of next year, as will St. Joseph and St. Ursula. But the deanery will form a committee to study the city’s future needs, delivering a plan in 2011.
Also in Kent, St. Patrick in Merlin, St. Francis Xavier in Tilbury and St. Peter in Tilbury East will be clustered and served by a resident pastor.
Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Daniels said that despite the declining number of priests and parishioners — the underlying causes of the reorganization — the diocese is in better shape compared to some dioceses in northern and western Canada.
“We’re really in some ways blessed that after this reorganization there will be priests in every parish and the Eucharist will be able to be celebrated,” he said.
(Stang is a freelance writer in Windsor, Ont.)
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