Parishioners say goodbye to St. Patrick's Catholic Church

FAIRFAX - Last weekend, during the final regular Sunday Mass at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, a baby was baptized.

“It was a beautiful day to have a new member baptized into that church,” said a choked-up Susan Rigdon, a longtime member of St. Patrick's. “It's not that we were a dying parish.”

But today's 4 p.m. Mass at St. Patrick's, 324 Church St. in Fairfax, marks the last regular weekend service for the parish, which has been dissolved and merged with John XXIII in Cedar Rapids. From now on,

all the Masses for the larger combined parish, named Blessed John XXIII Catholic Parish, will be housed in the building at 8100 Roncalli Dr. SW in Cedar Rapids that used to only house John XXIII.

Parishioners learned more than a year ago that St. Patrick's would be dissolved and that its building no longer would host regular weekend Masses, but Rigdon said the attendance of loyal St. Patrick's parishioners hasn't faded.

“Everyone has kept going up to the very end,” she said. “St. Patrick's has always been a very, very strong church. It was never dwindling in members.”

St. Patrick's years ago lost all of its services except the 8 a.m. Mass, but loyal parishioners kept coming, Rigdon said, “even young families with babies.”

“This has created pain for everyone,” she said, and called today's final regular Mass at the church, “basically a funeral service.”

The Rev. Dustin Vu, pastor for both parishes, views it differently, though.

“It's a Mass of celebration, thanking God for the many blessings that have been bestowed on our parish over the past 100 years,” Vu said. “Any time we make changes, we want to look back and thank all the people who have sacrificed for the parish. We want to celebrate its rich history.”

The merger made sense from a business standpoint, Vu said, because the number of priests is declining, and the two parishes are less than 3 miles apart.

“It's not possible to keep on operating in two buildings when the two parishes are that close in proximity,” he said. “Before, I was having to run back and forth between the two churches.”

Vu said he recently has taken on additional duties as chaplain and spiritual director for Xavier High School and Mount Mercy University, and he's been tasked to recruit young men to become priests. His growing workload made commuting between the two churches increasingly difficult.

“I don't know how much I could keep doing it with the additional assignments,” he said.

Blessed John XXIII will absorb the St. Patrick's community by adding a new Mass to its Sunday morning schedule. Before, John XXIII had Masses at 4 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday, and now the church will have a second Sunday morning Mass at 8 a.m.

“We are just moving a Mass over from St. Patrick's to John XXIII,” Vu said. “But it's not like we're doing anything new. We are not losing a Mass.”

The parish will continue to conduct Masses in St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Fairfax for special occasions, like weddings and funerals. And, Vu said, he doesn't expect any members will leave the parish because of the dissolution of St. Patrick's.

“Just like when you move from one house to another house, there will be some memories,” Vu said. “But I have faith in my parishioners. And, so far, I think that the people's faith is strong. No, I don't think we'll lose anyone.”

But Rigdon said, as hard as it will be to leave friends and Vu, she and her husband don't plan to attend Blessed John XXIII.

“When the doors close (at St. Patrick's), we will be moving in another direction,” she said. “It's a painful process.”

Rigdon said she feels like she's leaving a family.

“But our family is being scattered,” she said. “That's how I see it.”