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	3 Roman Catholic Churches in Easthampton to Be Merged into 1 New Parish By Dwight Shepard The Republican June 7, 2010 http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/06/3_roman_catholic_churches_in_e.html SPRINGFIELD – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield announced Monday that it is closing three of its churches in Easthampton and creating one new parish. Diocese spokesman Mark Dupont said the new Our Lady of the Valley parish will be created using the current Immaculate Conception Church at 33 Adams St. as its house of worship. As a result, the current three parishes, Immaculate Conception, Notre Dame du Bon Conseil and Sacred Heart, will close by June 30, Dupont said. The pastor of the new parish will be the Rev. Douglas McGonagle who is currently director of the Newman Center at the University of Massachusetts. He will be assisted by the Rev. Piotr Pawlus. Here is the text of Dupont’s statement. In a letter read at all weekend liturgies at Catholic parishes in Easthampton, Springfield Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell has announced the creation of a new single parish, including a new pastoral team that will serve the entire Catholic community. Our Lady of the Valley will come into existence on July 1 with its primary place of worship to be the current Immaculate Conception Church, 33 Adams Street. The pastor of the new parish will be Father Douglas McGonagle who will be leaving is post as director of the Newman Center at the University of Massachusetts to take up these new duties. He will be assisted by newly ordained Father Piotr Pawlus. This weekend’s announcement was the culmination of a review of the needs of the Catholic community in Easthampton. Last August when the final round of pastoral planning recommendations was announced, the bishop accepted the pastoral planning committee’s recommendation to establish a single parish in Easthampton. He also concurred that more time was needed to study the facilities and best configuration before creating that new parish. For that reason an extension was granted for discussions and studies to take place, including a side-by-side review of each of the church structures. Based on that analysis, the Immaculate Conception church was selected as the new place of worship for the Easthampton Catholic community. As a result, and consist with the recommendations released last August, the current three parishes, Immaculate Conception, Notre Dame du Bon Conseil and Sacred Heart, will close by June 30. The appointment of Father Pawlus was made in part to provide a Polish speaking priest so that the new Catholic community can retain some aspects and traditions of the Polish Catholic community in Easthampton.
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