At the start of a movie, there is usually a preview of upcoming movies. I write to give you a preview of the upcoming merger of the parishes of St. Raymond, St. Martha, and St. Jeanne Jugan of Enfield. Archbishop Blair announced this in his letter of April 22, 2022. The Archdiocese is implementing the “municipal model” to bring the three parishes into one parish with multiple churches. The decree will be announced publicly on the weekend of October 29th/30th by various means. The effect of the decree will mean one parish in church and civil law. Church law (canon law) sees a parish as a community of Catholics of a certain area and the church as a place for worship. In the past, Church and parish were considered the same. On November 22, 2022, the merger decree will go into effect. St. Jeanne Jugan Parish will be the Catholic parish of Enfield with five churches, although one church is not in use.
The merger will take time to fully implement. As decisions are made concerning the merger, timely communication will help to bring us together as a parish. Things will continue as they are for now. The parish councils will continue to function for now until new by-laws can be drafted to address the new parish situation. For now, the existing St. Jeanne Jugan parish will need to include representation from the other two churches. I will be establishing a new finance council with representatives from all of the churches. I hope and pray we will continue to be united in our faith and love for the Lord. On behalf of Fr. Mathew, Fr. Villa, Deacon Vince Motto, Deacon Paul Robert, and Deacon Michael Torres, I want to thank you for your prayerful and kind support. In these challenging times, we trust the Lord is with us and guiding us to a stronger and brighter future.
P.S. I will be away from the parish from October 20-24 visiting my brother in Texas. Fr. Edward Przygocki , M.S.A. , a classmate, will be offering the Masses at Holy Family and St. Bernard Churches that weekend.