Letter asks pope to save St. Joseph Church

LACONIA — When Jane Whitehead arrives in Italy, she will have a letter for Pope Francis, asking him to spare St. Joseph Church from the wrecking ball.

The Diocese of Manchester has authorized the parish to offer the rectory, church and school for sale in order to consolidate its properties and programs at the Sacred Heart campus. It will be marketed with deed restrictions prohibiting the buyer, or subsequent owners, from putting the property to uses the diocese deems inappropriate, and if the property is not sold within six months, the church will be demolished.

Catherine Tokarz, chairman of the Laconia Heritage Commission, asks the pope in the letter to preserve the church as part of the community's essential heritage.

“Please, your Holiness, on behalf of the citizens of our fair city, if you can intercede to spare this historically important church, which has formed an integral part of the ethnic and religious fabric of Laconia for over a century, as well as its equally significant parish house next door, we would be grateful,” Tokarz states in the letter.

Whitehead, also on the Heritage Commission, holds a doctorate from Yale in classical languages and literature with a specialization in archeology and will be in Italy for three weeks directing an archeological excavation at a Roman baths complex in Umbria, in the central region of the country.

She plans to hand-deliver the letter to a secretary to the pope.

Outside St. Joseph Church on Thursday, hours before she planned to begin her travel, she and Tokarz spoke about the importance of preserving St. Joseph's Church.

Built in a neo-Gothic style, the building dates from 1929 and is architecturally important.

“But it's also a very important part of the fabric of the town and it carries with it the history of the people of this neighborhood and it preserves the ethnic diversity,” Whitehead said. “Buildings really do carry with them the cultural history of a place.”

Tokarz said it's important to preserve the historic buildings that remain after many were torn down through urban renewal.

“Over the years, Laconia has lost a lot of its personality,” she said. “I just think we need to do all we can to maintain the personality and integrity of our city. It's a beautiful city.”

Father Marc Drouin of the St. Andre Bessette Parish, which includes St. Joseph and Sacred Heart, said the property has not been listed for sale yet, St. Joseph continues to be used for religious services and consolidation plans are ongoing.

“Nothing is imminent,” he said. “We're talking a couple years down the road and even that may change.”

“As a native, I would love to see the building remain and be used for appropriate purposes, not desecrated and not put to a profane use that would be a detriment. Horrific things have happened to churches.”

He understands the community's strong response toward saving the structure.

“For parishioners of St. Joseph, this is their spiritual home,” he said. “There's emotional involvement and an attachment to a place that's been a spiritual home on a generational level to parents and grandparents.

“There's a human level, looking at the changing face of a community. When that which you knew changes, part of your history changes.”

He said he has received proposals about future possible uses for the church but it's too early to say if any provide a solid direction forward.

Some Catholic church buildings have been used for condominium projects.

When St. Joseph is put up for sale, the deed restrictions will be numerous.

Other Christian denominations will not be able to use it for religious services, said Thomas Bebbington, a spokesman for the diocese. It also can't be used as a place where alcoholic beverages are sold. Also prohibited would be uses involving non-therapeutic massages, tattoos or a dance club.

Drouin hopes the building will not have to be torn down.

“It would break my heart to see it go in that direction,” he said.