St. Leo the Great Church prepares for final Christmas mass

By: Amanda Pitts

alpitts@abc6.com

@APittsABC6

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WLNE) — St. Leo the Great Church in Pawtucket is preparing to celebrate Christmas for the final time.

The Diocese of Providence announced last week that the 100-year-old Catholic church will be closing its doors on January 12.

“Father Sisco tried really hard. For the past eight years, he’d tried really hard to keep both churches open, but attendance is down.”

Connie Cordeiro has been attending mass at St. Leo’s for the past 48 years.

“All my kids got their sacraments here, my husband was buried from here. It means a lot to me.”

She said the church used to hold two masses, one upstairs and one downstairs.

“They used to be packed when I first got here. It was standing room only.”

But now things are different. Cordeiro said there are more empty pews than full ones.

“Young people are not going to church, older people are dying. We have more funerals than we have weddings, which makes it really sad.”

Parishioners will move just a few doors down to St. Cecilia’s where mass will continue. Members say it’s a much bigger building compared to the small, tight-knit community at St. Leo’s.

But members are familiar with the parish, as St. Leo’s and St. Cecilia’s merged in 2011 to form Saint John Paul II.

“I will miss this because it’s been such a huge part of my life, but I will continue there. Mass is mass no matter which building you’re in.”

The last mass at St. Leo’s will be at 12 p.m. on January 6. The building will shut down on the 12th.

(c) WLNE-TV 2018