Published: January 20, 2009 08:04 am      

Some Catholics OK with closings

By Denise Richardson
Staff Writer

Thomas Armstrong of Springfield Center said he has attended services at Blessed Sacrament in Springfield Center since about 1930.

The Catholic church is ``one of the nicest old churches in the area,’’ he said, and was the site of his baptism and marriage and the baptisms and confirmation of his five children.

However, the church is a mission of St. Thomas in Cherry Valley, and attendance has been mostly travelers and campers during the tourist season, Armstrong said Monday.

The decision by the bishop of the Albany Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church to close the site, among others, wasn’t a surprise, he said.

``It doesn’t really bother me,’’ said Armstrong, the Springfield town supervisor. ``It should have been closed.’’

Blessed Sacrament will close by Oct. 18, under the diocese’s plan announced this weekend, and St. Mary’s in Sharon Springs, another mission of St. Thomas, will close by Dec. 31. St. Thomas in Cherry Valley will become a mission of St. Mary’s “Our Lady of the Lake” in Cooperstown, and Catholic churches in Summit and Schoharie and missions in Edmeston, Roxbury and Schenevus will close under the plan titled ``Called to BE Church.’’ The Rev. Matthew H. Frosoni, administrator of St. John the Baptist in Walton, which has the Holy Family mission in Downsville and St. Peter’s in Delhi, said the three churches will remain open and strengthen bonds. The diocese’s reorganization has been an important step toward increasing awareness of the shortage of priests and helping Catholics understand and hear about the future of the faith, he said Monday.

On Sunday, the Rev. John P. Rosson, pastor of St. Mary’s in Cooperstown, said the changes risk alienating parishioners, who might decide to attend other denominations with closer churches or not attend any service.

The Albany Diocese has 124 active diocesan priests for an estimated 400,000 Catholics, officials said. In the 1960s, the diocese had about 400 priests, and the projection is there will be fewer than 100 diocesan priests in 2020.

The reorganization in the 165 parishes throughout the 14-county diocese called for 33 worship sites to close by the end of 2011.

Armstrong said he will to go to Blessed Sacrament before it closes.

He has attended St. Joseph in Richfield Springs on Saturday or Cherry Valley on Sunday for the past three to five years.