Those were the words written a little over ten years ago in the Rochester Catholic Courier about Our Lady of Mercy parish in Greece. As most of our readers probably know by now, Our Lady of Mercy will close this June. Back in the late 1990s, Mercy was small, but a stable parish. The community even decided to renovate their church, and did so in 2001-2. The parish held a re-dedication Mass with Bishop Clark on June 16th, 2002. The party did not last for long. The small Mercy membership grew even smaller as the decade wore on. Their problems were exacerbated by the loss of Kodak jobs and the relocation of Catholics from the area.
Mercy’s Catholic school closed back in 1980.
Today I did a little digging through my hefty (and I mean hefty) DoR document archive, and came across an old Courier article about Our Lady of Mercy parish. Below is a snippet of the 1997/8 parish profile written about Mercy:
“Our Lady of Mercy, Rochester
By Rob Cullivan
Staff writerGREECE ? Although Our Lady of Mercy Church may seem just another center of diocesan Catholic life, it?s far more to Rose Anuszkiewicz, a member of the parish?s Resurrection Choir that sings at funeral Masses.
“I hope we never close Our Lady of Mercy because Our Lady of Mercy is my second home,” she said.
A parish of 900 families that will celebrate its 40th year in 1998 hardly seems in danger of closing. Headed by its new pastor, Father Stan Kacprzak, Our Lady of Mercy boasts a number of social and spiritual ministries to both the community and its own members.
Father Kacprzak, who has also served at the Greece parishes of Our Mother of Sorrows and St. John the Evangelist, came to Our Lady of Mercy in December. He spoke highly of his new parish.
“What I?m doing this first year is seeing what?s here ? which is a wealth of community and generosity,” he said.” “
How times change. Our Lady of Mercy’s closing Mass will be held June 27th.
Tags: Church Closings, DoR History
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