RUMFORD – The priest serving River Valley Catholic churches has been assigned to offer Mass in the Bethel church as well. The additional assignment is part of a overall realignment of Catholic churches in the River Valley and Bethel areas.
The Rev. Angelo Lavasseur, pastor of St. Athanasius and St. John Church in Rumford, began celebrating Mass at Our Lady of the Snows on Dec. 3, the same Sunday that St. Joseph’s Mission, a Dixfield church affiliated with St. Theresa’s Church in Mexico, closed for the winter.
This is the first time St. Joseph’s has closed, Lavasseur said.
It is expected to reopen in the spring. Our Lady of the Snows had been affiliated with St. Catherine’s in Norway.
Parishioners from St. Joseph’s are now attending St. Theresa’s or St. Athanasius and St. John.
He said Bishop Richard Malone does not want priests offering more than four weekend Masses a week.
The new schedule and the addition of the Bethel church are temporary until decisions are made on property and Mass realignments. Members of Catholic churches from around the state, called clusters, are meeting in their areas to discuss possible changes.
Parishioners from the River Valley churches began monthly meetings this month and are expected to continue until summer.
New Mass hours in the River Valley area are: St. Athanasius and St. John, 6:15 p.m. Saturday and 9:30 a.m. Sunday; St. Theresa’s, 8 a.m. Sunday; Our Lady of the Snows, 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
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