MEXICO - St. Theresa's Catholic Church in Mexico and its mission, St. Joseph's in Dixfield, will likely close within the next 12 months.

That's among recommendations made Tuesday night by the Transition Committee of the newly combined parish, Church of the Holy Savior. It is the result of more than two years of meetings aimed at merging several area Catholic churches into one parish.

The Mexico and Dixfield churches will be sold.

Rumors about closing the two churches have lingered for more than five years. Tuesday's consensus decision by the 48 parishioners who attended the Transition Committee meeting is the first evidence that the churches will close.

Worship sites in the cluster that will remain open are St. Athanasius and St. John's Church in Rumford, Our Lady of the Snows in Bethel, and St. Mary's Chapel in Roxbury, which only holds services during the summer months.

Other recommendations by the Transition Committee for church property include:

• demolish the rectory at St. Anthanasius and St. John's to make room for parking;

• sell the now vacant former convent on Franklin Street in Rumford;

• sell land off Plymouth Avenue in Rumford;

• reconfigure St. Athanasius and St. John School in Rumford to house parish offices and religious education classrooms;

• create a St. Theresa's Chapel in the school; and

• make recommendations to the school board to find methods to make the school financially viable.

None of the recommendations will be finalized until Bishop Richard Malone approves of the plan, said the Rev. Angelo Le Vasseur, pastor of the Church of the Holy Savior parish. The plan must be in place by 2010.

First, however, the Transition Committee will meet again next week to finalize recommendations and incorporate some comments made by parishioners at Tuesday night's meeting.

Le Vasseur said Malone's decision should be made known to the cluster in late spring.

A special committee to oversee closing ceremonies for St. Theresa's and St. Joseph's will be formed soon, Le Vasseur said.

"Closure (for St. Theresa's) could come as early as this summer or as late as next year," he said. "St. Joseph's possibly won't reopen in the spring."

In recent years, St. Joseph's has closed during the winter months.

He said the proposed changes should save the parish more than $145,000 annually.

For now, staff serving the churches will remain the same. Much of the merger work has been done over the past couple of years, including changes in the Mass schedule, and the merging of offices and religious education classes.

"People have been challenged. They are letting go of something they love. We're trying to ease the pain as much as possible," said Le Vasseur. "People are getting their spiritual needs met."

He said he is excited to be a part of the process.

"The momentum is well paced," he said.

Maine's Catholic churches have been merging or reconfiguring, largely because of the scarcity of priests and as a cost-saving measure.

The four churches in the River Valley area, including Our Lady of the Snows, served more than 2,000 people or 1,200 families as of Jan. 1.