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	Church Closings or Mergers Possible Telegram & Gazette May 16, 2008 http://www.telegram.com/article/20080516/DIGESTS/805160580/1008/NEWS02 WORCESTER — A letter from Bishop Robert J. McManus announcing parish changes in the city, including possible church closings and parish mergers, will be read at Masses this weekend. The undisclosed changes were recommended by the Diocesan Pastoral Planning Committee, which spent a year studying the viability of city parishes. This week, the Presbyteral Council, the canonical body of priests for the Diocese of Worcester, reviewed and approved the changes. "Making a decision to close, merge or alter a parish's status in any way can be very upsetting for parishioners," Bishop McManus said in a statement released yesterday. "We have reached a point in our diocesan history, however, where not addressing the current vitality and viability of parishes is simply not a pastorally acceptable course of action." The bishop's letter will be read beginning with Saturday afternoon Masses. Later in the weekend the letter will be posted on the diocesan Web site, www.worcesterdiocese.org.
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