SalemNews.com, Salem, MA

Opinion

January 16, 2013

Letter: Mourning the loss of St. Joseph Church

To the editor:

I find it hard to believe that no one at The Salem News saw the irony in Friday’s front page. The headline read, “Catholic Church: ‘New beginning’” with a picture of the demolition of St. Joseph Church right below it.

As a former and very active member of St. Joseph Parish, the tearing down of the church is a painful reminder of all that was lost when the parish closed nearly nine years ago. The archdiocese now admits that those church closings were a mistake and is now looking to a new form of consolidation — the collaboratives. I hope for the sake of the Church that it works.

The parishioners of St. Joseph have moved on but will never forget what they lost. We mourned eight years ago, and we mourn again this last phase as the church is taken down. We know that the people are the Church, the building isn’t. But it is still a very sad time for us, the former parishioners of St. Joseph Church.

Gisele Deschenes

Salem

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