MAINE
The Washington Times
[with video]
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – Maine’s Catholic churches are selling off properties as the Diocese of Portland grapples with declining church attendance and a surplus of under-utilized buildings.
Parishes in the diocese have more than 20 churches, convents, rectories and schools on the market. Church leaders said a dozen properties in the diocese have sold for a total of more than $2.4 million since the beginning of 2013.
The sales come at a time when Catholic church attendance in the state is falling. The diocese counts 193,392 Catholics in Maine, a decline of nearly 30 percent from 30 years ago, but still the largest religious denomination in the state.
Some of the sold churches are nearly as old as the diocese itself, which began in 1853. Father James Lafontaine, pastor of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Portland, said the need to sell churches is hard for parishioners, who associate the buildings with generations of baptisms, weddings, and funerals.
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