Dubuque- This weekend will mark the last time that there will be weekend worship in 76 churches in the Dubuque Catholic Archdiocese in northeast Iowa. Four of those churches ending weekend worship include St. Francis Xavier in Belmond, Sacred Heart of Eagle Grove and the St. Mary’s Churches of Williams and Ackley.All four of the churches will continue to remain open for weddings, funerals, and other sacraments of the church but no more weekend Mass. The change will mean the parishioners of the affected churches will have to travel out of town for Masses starting next weekend. This past spring, the Archdiocese of Dubuque announced the reorganization of its 160 churches into 24 regional pastorates across 30 counties in northeast Iowa. This is part of the “Journey in Faith”program that started about a year ago. The purpose is to address the 46 percent decline in mass attendance and the shortage of priests leading the worship services.
The Catholic churches to remain open for weekend services include St. John’s in Clarion, St. Mary’s in Eldora, St. Mark’s in Iowa Falls and St. Thomas Aquinas in Webster City. Members of each of the churches have been notified of the changes in Mass times this spring for weekends and weekdays.
This weekend will be the final one for Father Francis Ananae who has served the Catholic parishes in both Webster City and Williams in Hamilton County. He will be transferred to the Decorah Regional Pastorate this next week. A card shower and potluck will be held after the 5:00 p.m. Mass on Saturday at St. Thomas Aquinas. Father Ananae will preside at the last Sunday Mass for St. Mary’s in Williams this Sunday, July 12th at 10:30 with a dinner to follow in the downstairs church hall.