Sacred Heart faces closure

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom Sacred Heart Church in Wilton.

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Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom Sacred Heart Church in Wilton.

Enlarge Purchase Photo

Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom Sacred Heart Church in Wilton.

Enlarge Purchase Photo

Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom Sacred Heart Church in Wilton.

Enlarge Purchase Photo

WILTON – Under a plan being considered by the Catholic Diocese of Manchester, the Sacred Heart Church on Maple Street will close after Easter. The parish would then be combined with Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Greenville and St. Patrick Parish in Jaffrey.

Plans for the closure will not be finalized until at least June, leaving the final disposition of the church’s functions to be decided. Sacred Heart is host to the Open Cupboard Food Pantry, an extensive seniors program including a monthly dinner, and area CCD classes. The church also sponsors a local Boy Scout troop and the building is used as a community emergency shelter.

The proposal was presented to about 65 members of the three parishes at an open meeting at Sacred Heart on Sunday afternoon.

Patrick McGee, diocese secretary for communications, said the decision was not made lightly and was not financial but was brought on by the recent retirement of the Rev. James Walsh, who served Wilton and Greenville. The problem is a lack of priests, and there is no one to replace him.

Wilton and Greenville parishes currently are being served by the Rev. Don Jacques, who is retired and living in Milford.

“Father Jacques has agreed to serve Wilton and Greenville with one Mass during the week and one on Sunday at both churches,” McGee said. He added that would be coverage for weddings and funerals.

The Rev. Wilfred “Bill” Deschamps, pastor at St. Patrick’s in Jaffrey, will become head of the combined parishes. With only one priest for the three churches, the plan through Lent includes two Masses in Jaffrey, two in Greenville and one in Wilton. After Easter, the Wilton service would be dropped.

It was estimated that between 300 and 350 people attend the current three Masses in Wilton and Greenville.

Sunday’s meeting was highly emotional, with one teenage girl breaking into tears as she spoke of Sacred Heart being “the only church I’ve ever known.”

Others spoke of the importance of the church’s program.

“There’s no need to lock the doors,” one man said. “We care for our buildings, run our programs here without a priest, and we do very well, thank you. Let us keep our buildings available to the people in our town.”

Wilton and Greenville have shared a priest for close to 15 years, and the last several priests have lived in Greenville.

“That decision will come through discussions,” McGee said. “To determine the best uses for the buildings.”

He added, “I can’t reassure you of the answer. It’s probably not as simple as you think, but it can be done.”

It was suggested that Wilton parishioners could attend St. Patrick’s in Milford, which is only five miles away, but most people said they were already yoked with Greenville.

Jacques said a new schedule of Masses would be made after Easter, and it was possible that a Mass could be scheduled in Wilton.

McGee said the diocese is divided into 31 “clusters,” groups of geographically related parishes, and there are only 75 priests available. Wilton, Greenville and Jaffrey are part of the cluster centered in Keene.

“There is no priest available to be assigned,” McGee said. There are no priests scheduled to be ordained this year, and only two next year, he said.

During a question and answer period, a number of issues were addressed:

Why couldn’t Wilton become a “satellite” of Milford, as Brookline once was? McGee said Milford was a growing church and they would have to drop one Mass to accommodate Wilton.

Why not one Mass in Wilton and one in Greenville, instead of two in Greenville? The relative size of the buildings and congregations was cited.

Couldn’t the pastor live in Greenville and serve all three churches? McGee said he didn’t know how practical that was.

Resident Spencer Brookes said the building was also used by the town, which doesn’t have space for the various uses of the church. McGee said he didn’t “know of a parish that has maintained its buildings for use,” after it had closed as a church.

According to the town history, there have been Catholic services in Wilton since 1867, when there were 17 families involved. The present church was built in 1881 for a Catholic population of about 500, including the Milford section of Pine Valley. The Milford parish dates to 1895.

The church seats about 250 people. It is of simple design, with a vaulted, beamed ceiling and narrow stained glass windows. It has a large community room in the basement and a rectory.

The Sacred Heart Parish includes Lyndeborough.

Jessie Salisbury can be reached at 654-9704 or jessies@tellink.net.