Church Closings

CAMILLE FIOTI Times Leader Correspondent

PLAINS TWP. -- When it was his turn to kiss the altar after the closing of Mass of Sacred Heart Church on Sunday, Albert Vannucchi broke down and sobbed.

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Rev. Joseph Greskiewicz celebrates the final mass at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Plains on Sunday morning. BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

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Rev. Joseph Greskiewicz says the homily during the final mass at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Plains on Sunday morning. BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

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As the last in a long line of teary-eyed parishioners waiting to kiss the altar, Vannucchi rose to his feet and said his final goodbyes.

As part of the diocesan consolidation project, Sacred Heart closed its doors on Sunday. The parish will consolidate with St. Joseph’s and SS. Peter and Paul, also in Plains Township. The name for the three consolidated parishes, which will congregate at SS. Peter and Paul, is SS. Peter and Paul Territorial Parish.

“This had a lot more to do with memories than faith,” said Vannucchi, of Plains Township, after the service. He recalled how just two years ago, he and his family grieved at the funeral for his 19-year-old son, Erik, at the church.

“I came here today to say goodbye to an old friend.”

Vannucchi, his sister Leah Vannucchi and close friends Ruth Verespy, Nancy Verespy, Jonathan Curley, and Maryann and Joe McGroarty, all of Plains, recalled fond memories they had at the church and its school, which closed decades ago.

“Sacred Heart is like a book,” Nancy Verespy said. “You don’t think about the end.”

As four out of only 32 members of the class of 1968, Nancy, Albert and the McGroartys, who were also neighbors, reminisced about school and church memories. “It was on those steps,” Albert said pointing to the church’s front concrete steps, “that we took our senior picture.”

“The Irish Church on the Hill” as it is affectionately known, was built in 1883.

“We thank the first parishioners,” lector John Corcoran said from the podium on Sunday. “Men and women who’d gather under a covering to get out of the rain and cold after returning from St. Mary’s Church in Wilkes-Barre, where they would walk week after week, and made the commitment to build this church of Sacred Heart.”

Corcoran also thanked the Revs. Joseph Greskiewicz and Michael Kloton, the pastor and assistant pastor, respectively, and the many people who dedicated much of their lives to the parish.

Linda Nickerson of Plains said the transition was made easier because the three churches have been affiliated with each other for three years. She said it’s also comforting knowing that Greskiewicz and Kloton will still serve at the new parish.

Although she has been a member of Sacred Heart for 43 years, Nickerson said she attends all three churches alternately.

“I’m just happy they left at least one church in Plains,” she said. “They didn’t have to. We could be going to St. Maria Goretti in Laflin.”

Nickerson added that her two children received all of their sacraments at Sacred Heart and her grandson Ethan Mooney was baptized there.

It’s not easy to say goodbye to the church you grew up with, Michelle Cinti Waslasky said. “I’m sad about it, but I understand the reason for the change.”

Rumors had been swirling around about the church’s closing for about a year and a half, so Waslasky, of Plains, said she was prepared. She said parishioners were officially informed of the closing last week. Waslasky said Sacred Heart was the church she grew up with and was married in.

Wiping away tears, Carolyn Loiacono of Plains was so choked up she could hardly speak. “I feel terrible,” she said as she and her sons David and Mark left the church. “I can’t even talk.”

David, 20, and Mark, 18, stepped in, recalling times when they helped their father, David Sr., clean and set up the church basement for functions. The brothers, who served as altar boys, said their father was a Eucharistic minister and taught them religious lessons as the church’s CCD teacher.

Greskiewicz told the parishioners that Sunday’s closing ceremony was marked not only by sadness, but also of celebration. “We gather here to celebrate 126 years of togetherness,” he said. He encouraged the parishioners to make new memories in the new, combined parish.

“It’s hard to see this place and the activities come to an end, but we must face realities. If we were filled to capacity, there would be no need to close parishes,” he pointed out. “As we leave this church today and lock the doors, Jesus is with us as we go on.”

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