MOTT HAVEN — A 122-year-old South Bronx church that was modeled after the Hagia Sophia and is in need of about $5 million worth of repairs is merging with a nearby parish as part of a reorganization plan by the Archdiocese of New York.
St. Anselm's Church, at 685 Tinton Ave., will be combining with the nearby church of St. Roch, which is about half a mile away at 525 Wales Ave., by Aug. 1 of next year, according to the Archdiocese.
Although St. Roch can still be used on special occasions, it will no longer host mass or the sacraments on a regular weekly basis.
Rev. Antonio Palacios, who has been the pastor at St. Anselm for 11 years, said the church would do its best to accommodate the parishioners coming over from St. Roch and make them feel comfortable.
"For us, we always go with the intention to serve the people the way they want to be served," he said.
St. Anselm typically has about 3,000 people come to its five weekend masses, while St. Roch has a congregation of about 600, according to Palacios. He said St. Anselm could easily fit the extra churchgoers.
St. Anselm is currently in the midst of a roughly $5 million renovation campaign to remodel its roof, walls, windows and interior.
However, Palacios said he did not think the new parishioners coming over from St. Roch would have a huge impact on this campaign, as both churches are located in relatively poor areas of the city.
"That is big money for this community that really is not very rich," he said.
"I am ashamed to ask them for money for the restoration."
Luis Laboy, president of St. Anselm's Holy Name Society and a member of the restoration committee, was more hopeful that the extra congregants could provide a boost for the campaign, which he said has raised just over $70,000 so far.
"It will definitely help," he said. "There are going to be more people."
Father Jose Martinez, pastor at St. Roch, stressed that it was important to respect the decision to combine his church with St. Anselm, but some parishioners were still upset about the news.
Lindsay Guzman, who was baptized at St. Roch and referred to it as a second home, said she was sad and disappointed about the move to St. Anselm.
A letter from Cardinal Timothy Dolan describes the joining of the two churches as a merger, but Guzman disagreed with this term.
“They call it merging, but in reality it’s closing,” she said, “because it’s not like we’re going to have anything going on in this parish.”
More than 30 churches will combine under the Archdiocese's reorganization plan, called Making All Things New, including six in The Bronx and nine in Manhattan.
Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the Archdiocese, said he could not comment on specific cases, but the goal of the entire process was to create stronger parishes throughout New York, and factors like the location, size, condition and historical nature of the church were taken into consideration.
"Things were out of balance because so much of our structure was established 100 years ago, 125 years ago, when most of our Catholic people lived in Manhattan or The Bronx," he said. "That’s no longer the case."
Zwilling stressed that he understood why people at closing parishes were upset and that the Archdiocese would work to make their transition as smooth as possible.
"It’s our responsibility, during the coming months before these changes go into effect, to work with the people, to help them prepare for it, to help them come to better understand it and maybe move past the feelings of sadness and pain that they’re experiencing now," he said.
