BishopAccountability.org

Catholic Archdiocese names parish mergers: see list

By Elizabeth Ganga
Journal News
November 2, 2014

http://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/2014/11/02/catholic-archdiocese-names-parish-mergers-see-list/18369597/

Saint Bernard Roman Catholic Church in White Plains on Nov. 2, 2014. Several area churches are schedule to be merged or close. Saint Bernard is not one of the churches.

The Archdiocese of New York announced Sunday that it will merge 112 parishes into 55 new parishes, with less than half of the merged parishes continuing to celebrate masses and sacraments at both churches.

Of the new parishes, 31 will only use one of the church buildings on a regular basis.

In Westchester, 12 churches will be merged and the Salesian community will keep two active churches in Port Chester at sites to be determined. In Rockland, four churches will be affected.

No parishes are merging in Putnam.

At St. Bernard Church in White Plains, which had been told it might merge but in the end was not on the list, parishioners Danuta and Don Zamora were happy and relieved as they walked into 9 a.m. Mass Sunday. They had sampled several churches before picking St. Bernard. They liked its diversity and that it seemed to be growing and thriving.

"We just moved into the area and we were just extremely hopeful that the church would stay open," Danuta Zamora said.

Sunday's announcement was in the works for several years. The church initiated a reorganization process called Making All Things New that involved self-evaluations by parishes and recommendations from an Archdiocesan Advisory Board.

The 10-county Archdiocese, which includes Putnam, Westchester and Rockland, now has 368 parishes. Cardinal Timothy Dolan has said the restructuring is necessary because of shifts in the Catholic population and a dwindling number of priests.

"We no longer have the priests to serve 368 parishes," he wrote in Catholic New York on Thursday.

In 2007, the Archdiocese closed or merged 21 parishes and in 2013 it reorganized its schools.

The decision was originally expected to be announced in September. The churches to be closed will no longer be used on a regular basis by Aug. 1. 2015.

Westchester now has 83 parishes, Rockland has 18 and Putnam has five.

Parishes that will merge, with the starred church becoming the parish church. Masses will not regularly be celebrated at the second church:

Westchester County

1. *Saint John the Baptist

670 Yonkers Avenue

Yonkers, New York 10704

Most Holy Trinity

18 Trinity Plaza

Yonkers, New York 10701

2. *Saint Peter

91 Ludlow Street

Yonkers, New York 10705

Saint Denis

470 Van Cortlandt Park Avenue

Yonkers, New York 10705

3. *Saint Peter and Paul

129 Birch Street

Mount Vernon, New York 10552

Saint Ursula

214 East Lincoln

Mount Vernon, New York 10552

4. *Our Lady of Victory

28 West Sidney Avenue

Mount Vernon, New York 10550

Sacred Heart

115 Sharpe Boulevard South

Mount Vernon, New York 10550

5. *Saint Mary

23 South High Street

Mount Vernon, New York 10550

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

10 South Tenth Street

Mount Vernon, New York 10550

6. *Saint Vito

816 Underhill Avenue

Mamaroneck, New York 10543

Most Holy Trinity

329 East Boston Post Road

Mamaroneck, New York 10543

7. The Salesian community will minister to the faithful in Port Chester with one Parish Church and another Church for Mass and Sacraments. Sites to be determined.

Rockland County

1. *Saint Peter

115 Broadway

Haverstraw, New York 10927

Saint Mary of the Assumption

46 Conklin Avenue

Haverstraw, New York 10927

Parishes that will merge but will continue to celebrate masses and sacraments at both churches. The starred church will be the parish church:

Westchester County

1. *Our Lady of Perpetual Help

559 Pelham Manor Road

Pelham Manor, New York

Saint Catharine

25 Second Avenue

10803 Pelham, New York 10803

2. *Saint Gabriel

120 Division Street

New Rochelle, New York 10801

Saint Joseph

280 Washington Avenue

New Rochelle, New York 10801

3. *Immaculate Conception

53 Winter Hill Road

Tuckahoe, New York 10707

Assumption

100 Pleasant Avenue

Tuckahoe, New York 10707

4. *Annunciation

470 Westchester Avenue

Crestwood, New York 10707

Our Lady of Fatima

5 Strathmore Road

Scarsdale, New York 10583

5. *Saint Christopher

3094 Albany Post Road

Buchanan, New York 10511

Saint Patrick

240 11th Street

Verplanck, New York 10596

Rockland County

Parish Church

1. *Saint Joan of Arc

32 Eagle Valley Road

Sloatsburg, New York 10974

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Orange Turnpike

Tuxedo Park, New York 10987

Contact: eganga@lohud.com




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