Church of St. Joseph closes ~ a sad sign of the times

For 116 years, Catholics  in the farming community of Clements on the Minnesota prairie have come to one church to share life’s milestones.

They have been baptized, confirmed and married in the Church of St. Joseph.  Their grandparents, parents and siblings lie in the nearby church cemetery, but the friends who came to the church Sunday, June 30, were there to celebrate the life of the Church of St. Joseph.

 “This is a sad, sad day,” said the Most Rev. John M. LeVoir, Bishop of the Diocese of New Ulm, who with Monsignor Eugene Lozinski concelebrated the Mass that marked the closing of the church.  “This parish has a proud history,”  said  Bishop LeVoir.  Cherish the church as a place of memories, he said.

See complete story in this week's issue of the Springfield Advance-Press.

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