Parishioners who attend Catholic Masses in churches that make up the Archdiocese of Dubuque will notice changes starting this weekend in the area. The Webster City Catholic Pastorate will come into being serving the faithful with weekend Masses at four churches. The churches include St. John’s in Clarion, St. Mary’s in Eldora, St. Mark’s in Iowa Falls and St. Thomas Aquinas in Webster City. The priests serving the new Pastorate are Rev. Donald Czapala as the lead pastor with Revs. Ralph Davis and Peter Dery as both Parochial Vicars. Last Sunday was the final weekend Masses at St. Francis Xavier of Belmond, Sacred Heart of Eagle Grove, and St. Mary churches of Ackley and Williams. The churches will continue to offer weekday Masses, funerals and weddings but no more weekend worship services for its parishioners. The change will mean the members of the churches in Ackley, Belmond, Eagle Grove, and Williams will have to drive out of town to attend the weekend Masses. The reason for this change is due to a shortage of priests , a decline in Catholic marriages and the low attendance at weekend services. The Dubuque Archdiocese will revisit the plan for its churches in six months. In the meantime, Catholics from several parishes have filed an appeal with the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Clergy, arguing the plan weakens parish governance, centralizes decision-making, and could accelerate the loss of local Catholic communities.