Our Lady of the Cross held its first official Mass on July 1.
07/04/11 Holyoke- Republican Photo by Mark M.Murray- Mass at the Our Lady of the Cross Parish was held Sunday. The combined parishes of Holy Cross and Mater Dolorosa took part in the service.
HOLYOKE – Kevin Rodgers, 15, of Holyoke, stood at the doors of the former Holy Cross church with a sign reading “Celebrate with our Lady of the Cross” in honor of the first big Mass since the church joined with Mater Dolorosa.
“It’s an exciting day. We are going to have many new parishioners and hopefully I’ll meet some new people and make new friends,” Rodgers said.
The church held its first official Mass on July 1, but Sunday’s Mass was the first large one for the two parishes.
Fr. James McCurry, who led the service, told the crowded church that while the two parishes are unique, they will be stronger together.
“ We recognize that each parish has its own shape, size, character, history and traditions. Jesus loves the uniqueness of each and has yoked them together as one new parish,” he said.
Dorothy Skibel, of South Hadley, has been a member of Mater Dolorosa on Maple Street for 74 years. The church officially closed on Thursday. As chairman of the parish council Skibel felt it was important to make a smooth transition.
“I have gotten to know a lot of the parishioners at this church and we have worked closely together,” she said.
While she will miss the building, she is glad that Fr. Alex B. Cymerman, the pastor at Mater Dolorosa, will be coming to the new church.
“It will be different, but sometimes you have to step outside of your comfort zone,” she said.
At Mater Dolorosa some parishioners are participating in a continuos vigil. They do not want the church to close and most have decided not to attend Our Lady of the Cross.
“After being here all these years all of a sudden without any real information given to parishioners directly, they took it upon the themselves to close the church,” said Edward Wytrych, of Holyoke, who has been a member of the church for more than 50 years.
He said he wants a meeting with Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell to discuss the closing.
“We will not give up the church,” he said. “We will stay and fight until the church reopens or we will seek other churches to attend.”
Phyllis Babula, of South Hadley, has been a member of the church her whole life.
“My grandchildren are the fifth generation affiliated with this church. My family has been affiliated with the church for over 100 years. The kids have gone through communions, confirmations and weddings here,” she said. “We are all very heartbroken. This beautiful church is filled with very happy memories we thought we could continue to enjoy for years to come.”
Mitch Sroka has been a member of the church for 35 years. He moved to the United States from Poland when he was 21 years old.
“This has become my community, like family,” he said.
Sroka said he does not believe the concerns cited by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield regarding $750,000 worth of repairs to the church are a reason to close.
“We collect over $5,000 every week in donations. Where does the money go?” he said.
He is also concerned about the older Holyoke residents who walk to the church.
“They are not gong to drive to the other church and they are not going to go at all. It’s like they (the diocese) don’t care if we go to church or not,” he said.
Mark Dupont, a spokesman for the diocese, said pastoral planning is about making churches sustainable.
“We don’t want parishes to rely on fund raising to keep their doors open,” he said.
While joining the two churches was not an easy decision to make, Dupont said it had to be done.
“This is the goal of pastoral planning, to create strong, vibrant, Catholic communities that can sustain themselves for years to come,” he said. “We want the church community to express their faith inwardly in parish celebrations, but also to take the faith outside the church doors into the community.”