BRISTOL, S.D. (AP) - A church that’s operated in a rural northeastern South Dakota city for 134 years is preparing to open its doors to parishioners for the last time.
St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Bristol will hold its last Mass on Saturday, Aberdeen American News reported.
Rev. Michael Kelly serves the parish community of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Groton. But he’s been commuting to St. Anthony’s to take care of the Bristol church since 2011.
Kelly said St. Anthony’s decided to leave the church that year and let the community decide when to tear it down. The Bristol church built in 1885 is slated to be demolished in June, he said.
“Out of Rome, the decree says you cannot have a church be sold for anything other than a worship space,” Kelly said.
The church’s diocese, the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls, has seen 14 churches host their final Masses in the past five years, said spokesman Jerome Klein. The dioceses had 24 mergers in 2014.
St. Anthony’s parishioners will now have to drive for up to 45 minutes to find the closest Catholic church in either Groton or Webster, Kelly said.
He expects the final Mass to be “a little emotional.”
Kelly hopes for “a beautiful ceremony for remembering and thanksgiving for all that was done here.”
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Information from: Aberdeen American News, http://www.aberdeennews.com
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