LEWISTON – Catholics throughout the Twin Cities heard a united message at this weekend’s Masses: Catholic education will change and it will change quickly.
“There will be a St. Joseph’s building, but there will not be a St. Joseph’s Parish” school, the Rev. Michael Seavey, pastor of St. Joe’s, told his parishioners Sunday morning. The joint recommendation of Seavey and the Revs. Daniel Greenleaf of Holy Cross, Frank Murray of Sacred Heart and Robert Lariviere of Sts. Peter and Paul parishes to merge schools was not made lightly, but seen as necessary to strengthen Catholic education.
According to Seavey, there has been a 31 percent decline in infant baptisms in parishes in Lewiston, Auburn and surrounding communities in the past five years.
“That’s where our future students come from,” he said, and there aren’t enough children to fill the existing Catholic schools.
The parishes are grappling with increasing costs for fewer students, Seavey explained during his homily at Sunday morning’s 9:30 a.m. Mass, and “the future is not good.”
The need to consolidate will force a quick merger of the local K-8 schools.
Last June, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, which includes all of Maine, launched a study to realign parishes statewide, in the face of shifting population patterns and declining numbers of active priests. That group was originally charged with making recommendations on a 7- to 10-year plan this month; those expected recommendations are separate from these made by the Twin Cities’ pastors.
The four local pastors have been meeting at least weekly since the start of December, with the “schools question commanding every waking moment of our lives,” Seavey said. He and his fellow priests have placed their faith in merging the parish schools after seeing such re-organizations succeed in Biddeford, Bangor and Sanford.
“Our only objective is to support Catholic education,” said Seavey.
A task force of Lewiston-Auburn residents who have dedicated themselves to Catholic education will be named, and it will be given a two-month timetable to come up with a plan. The group will report back to Bishop Richard Malone, with initial changes expected at the start of the upcoming school year in September.
“It could be considered irony,” Seavey said, that this announcement is being made at the start of Catholic Schools Week and during a year in which St. Joe’s is celebrating its 125th anniversary. But he encouraged his parishioners to look past the irony and see a “deeper opportunity to reflect and meditate on what that change means.”
He suggested that the merger will ensure that continued “quality and vibrant Catholic education will be available to our families in the coming years.”
The merger is the latest challenge for Catholics in Lewiston and Auburn who worship in shrinking parishes with fewer priests. In 1998, St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Lewiston closed because there weren’t enough families to pay the bills and support the church’s mission.
St. Joe’s, a parish of some 800 families with 180 students enrolled in kindergarten through eighth-grade, is operating in a deficit. Although the parish has been able to trim its costs, its income is down from this point last year. Seavey described the parish as “struggling” financially but well-supported by faith.
Seavey’s announcement of the merger drew subdued reaction from parishioners, but many said he had been preparing them for this inevitability for the past 2 years. So, there was some sense of relief that action will now be taken.
Jack Carney, a former St. Joe’s school board member whose two daughters are enrolled there, heard about the pastors’ shared recommendation as other parents did, by way of a letter mailed to parents on Friday. He asked to speak to the congregation at the end of Mass and told his fellow parishioners he welcomes the merger, describing it as an exciting opportunity for growth.
“The merger means more resources for students,” Carney said, adding that the closure of St. Dominic Regional High School in downtown Lewiston had been viewed with grief, but the move to a new school in Auburn has enhanced its student life and succeeded in boosting support. He anticipates the same will happen in whatever form of school structure emerges from the task force’s recommendations.
The Most Rev. Richard Malone, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, will be in Lewiston today to celebrate 9:30 a.m. Mass at Sts. Peter and Paul Basilica. He plans to reveal more details about the merger at an 11 a.m. news conference at the basilica.
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