(WARREN, R.I.) Due to a decline in sacramental practice, along with a rise in ongoing costs to maintain the church building, Rev. W. Douglas Grant, pastor of St. Mary of the Bay Church in Warren, has recommended that St. Jean Baptiste Church, a mission church of St. Mary of the Bay, be permanently closed. After consultations with the parish trustees, members of the parish finance council and the parish building council, and with the diocesan College of Consultors and Council of Priests, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has given his approval and parishioners were notified at Masses last weekend. The final Mass is scheduled for December 31, 2017.
“I commend Fr. Grant and his parishioners for handling this change in such a professional and compassionate manner,” said Bishop Tobin. “The decision to close the church building, while understandably difficult, is necessary and it will strengthen the spiritual mission of the parish.”
In 2010, St. Jean Baptiste Parish was merged canonically into St. Mary of the Bay Parish and at that time, St. Jean Baptiste Church became “a mission” of St. Mary of the Bay Parish. Over the last year, the Diocese of Providence and the pastor of St. Mary of the Bay have identified causes that support the case for closing including the high annual costs of maintenance, the negative impact upon the overall financial condition of the parish at-large, and a consistent decline in sacramental practice. In 1990, there were 750 registered families, 500 registered families in 2009, and recent attendance at the only remaining weekend Mass totaled approximately 80 parishioners. In all of 2017, there have only been two weddings and no baptisms thus far. All religious education programming is already coordinated through St. Mary of the Bay Parish.
The ongoing spiritual and pastoral needs of parishioners will continue to be met at nearby St. Mary of the Bay Church.
History St. Jean Baptiste Church has been the spiritual home for generations of French-Canadian Catholics in Warren and for the celebrations of Holy Mass, baptisms, weddings and funerals since its solemn consecration in 1882. In 2010, due to gradual patterns of population decline and diminishing parish income, St. Jean Baptiste Parish was merged canonically into St. Mary of the Bay Parish.