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Catholic Diocese closing four buildings in St. Katharine Drexel Parish

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The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh will close four of six church buildings comprising St. Katharine Drexel Parish, the diocese announced Saturday evening.

Scheduled for closure March 4 are St. Joseph in Roscoe, St. Michael the Archangel in East Bethlehem Township, St. Thomas Aquinas in California and Saints Mary & Ann in Marianna. Bishop David A. Zubik issued decrees to shut them down.

The other two parish buildings – Ave Maria Church in Bentleyville and Saint Agnes Church in Centerville – will remain open.

St. Katharine Drexel Parish was created in January 2017 from a merger of the former Ave Maria, St. Agnes, St. Joseph, St. Oliver Plunkett and St. Thomas Aquinas parishes.

The diocese said in the release, “It was decided at the time of the merger that all six buildings would remain open, some for worship and others for occasional worship. However, because of the financial constraints faced by the parish, it became apparent that they could not afford to keep all the church buildings open.”

The diocese said a task force was formed last summer to study the possibility of shuttering buildings. The parish administrator, the Rev. Edward Yuhas, led the task force, which “came to a consensus in October and held assemblies in each of the six parish buildings in November to inform parishioners of its recommendations.

“The feedback collected at those parish assemblies indicated that parishioners understood the recommendation to close four church buildings,” the diocese added.

Zubik wrote a letter addressed to parishioners attending mass this weekend. It reads in part:

“It is my hope that this action, while difficult, will allow your parish to be properly resourced to focus on the mission and ministry of promoting spiritual growth . . . and provide proper formation of lay ministers so that there can be a sustainable Catholic presence in Southeast Washington County.”

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