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Articles: Archdiocese closing a parish

Posted by admin on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 08:50 AM

St. John Berchmans/St. Juliana Parish will close by the end of June, the Archdiocese of Detroit announced Tuesday.
The east-side parish owes $765,000 to the archdiocese, which has invested nearly $2 million in the last six years to keep the parish going, said archdiocese spokesman Ned McGrath. Other factors leading to the closure include extensive repairs needed for church buildings and low membership, archdiocese officials said. Of 63 registered member households, 17 are within the parish boundaries. Though there have been funerals and baptisms in recent years, the parish hasn't hosted a wedding since 2000. Parishioners learned of the decision at Sunday's 10 a.m. mass. Two weeks ago, the archdiocese shuttered another once-bustling parish, SS. Kevin and Norbert in Inkster. It was announced in March that St. Juliana School, with students in preschool through eighth grade, also will close. It will merge with two other east-side schools, which will be consolidated onto two campuses. "Be assured there will still be a strong Catholic presence on the east side of Detroit," Cardinal Adam Maida, archbishop of Detroit, wrote in a letter to the community. "It's very, very sad and demoralizing," said Sister Elaine Hartnett, a parishioner and former principal of St. Juliana School. "We're a city church with lots of people around us who need our help." St. John Berchmans, 4863 Lakeview, was founded in 1923; St. Juliana, 9801 Chalmers, was founded nine years later. In 1989, the two merged and began operating out of St. Juliana.

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