St. John the Baptist Parish (Salem, Massachusetts)

St. John the Baptist Parish
St. John the Baptist Parish
	42°31′27.8″N 70°53′37.0″W / 42.524389°N 70.893611°W
Location	28 Street Peter Street; Salem, Massachusetts
Country	United States
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	https://www.jpiidivinemercyshrine.org/
History
Founded	1903
Founder(s)	Polish immigrants
Dedication	St. John the Baptist
Administration
Division	North Pastoral Region
Subdivision	Vicariate II
Province	Boston
Archdiocese	Boston
Clergy
Archbishop	Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley
Pastor(s)	Rev. Robert Bedzinski, S.Ch.

The Parish of Saint John the Baptist is a parish of the Catholic Church in Salem, Massachusetts, within the Archdiocese of Boston. It was founded in 1903 to serve Polish immigrants in the area.

Originally, Mass was celebrated at Immaculate Conception Parish in Salem, but as Polish immigration to Salem grew, their own church was needed. The first church was erected on Hebert Street, along with a school building. Years later, the parish bought the recently closed Baptist church on St. Peter Street and renovated it, which included adding a second floor. The parish added a large parking lot and opened a school in the 1960s, but the school closed in the early 1970s due to low enrollment.

Facing demographic changes and a shortage of priests, the Archdiocese implemented programs in the early 2000s to combine parishes together under a single pastor. In 2013, it joined with three other Catholic parishes in Salem, St. James, Immaculate Conception, and St. Anne to form the Salem Catholic Collaborative (St. Anne's would leave the collaborative a year later). Rev. Daniel J. Riley was appointed pastor, the first non-Polish pastor in St. John the Baptist's history.^[1]

In October 2016, it was announced that Fr. Riley would be leaving the collaborative.^[2] Along with his departure, most of the staff was fired and the school building was closed for use, shutting down the bingo that help fund the parish for the last 43 years. In 2017, Fr. Robert Bedzinski, S.Ch. arrived to become the new parish priest.

St. John the Baptist is one of the few remaining Polish-American Roman Catholic parishes in New England in the Archdiocese of Boston. Masses are celebrated daily (except for Tuesdays) at 8:00 AM, and Saturday evening at 4:00 PM. Sunday mass is at 10:00 AM in Polish and 11:45 AM in English. There is also a novena to St. Jude Monday nights at 7 PM.

References

^ Parish history
^ Writer, Dustin Luca Staff. "Salem Catholic Collaborative sees 'painful cuts' amid financial crisis". Salem News. Retrieved 2016-11-20.

Bibliography

Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish - Centennial 1893-1993
The Official Catholic Directory in USA
75th Anniversary Book for St. John The Baptist Parish (1978)

External links

This article about a Catholic Church in the United States church building is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Parish history

[2] Writer, Dustin Luca Staff. "Salem Catholic Collaborative sees 'painful cuts' amid financial crisis". Salem News. Retrieved 2016-11-20.

[1]

[2]

v t e Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston
Ordinaries	Bishops Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus Benedict Joseph Fenwick John Bernard Fitzpatrick Archbishops John Joseph Williams William Henry O'Connell Richard Cushing Humberto Sousa Medeiros Bernard Francis Law Seán Patrick O'Malley Richard Henning Auxiliary bishops Cristiano Borro Barbosa Robert Francis Hennessey Mark William O'Connell Robert Philip Reed Peter J. Uglietto Emeriti bishops John Anthony Dooher Arthur L. Kennedy Deceased Joseph Gaudentius Anderson Thomas Francis Markham Emilio S. Allué Francis Xavier Irwin Walter James Edyvean
Churches	List List of churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Cathedral Cathedral of the Holy Cross Basilicas and shrines Basilica and Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Boston St. Anthony Shrine, Boston St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine, Boston Our Lady of Good Voyage, the Seaport Shrine Parishes Holy Name, West Roxbury Holy Trinity, Lowell Our Lady of Czestochowa, Boston Our Lady of Good Voyage, Gloucester Our Lady Help of Christians, Newton Sacred Heart, Cambridge St. Albert the Great, Weymouth St. Charles Borromeo, Waltham St. John the Baptist, Salem St. John the Evangelist, Cambridge St. Joseph, Boston St. Leonard, Boston St. Mary, Dedham (History) St. Mary, Milton St. Mary, Newton St. Mary, Waltham St. Mary, Winchester St. Mary - St. Catherine of Siena, Charlestown St. Paul, Cambridge St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr, Chelsea St. Susanna, Dedham Former parishes Holy Cross, Boston Our Lady of Mount Carmel, East Boston St. Aidan, Brookline St. Catherine of Sienna, Charlestown St. Joseph, Roxbury St. Mary, Charlestown St. Stephen, Boston
Education	Seminaries Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary St. John's Seminary Colleges Boston College Emmanuel College Labouré College Merrimack College Regis College St. John's Seminary Closed Marian Court College High schools Academy of Notre Dame, Tyngsboro Arlington Catholic High School, Arlington Austin Preparatory School, Reading Bishop Fenwick High School, Peabody Boston College High School, Dorchester Cathedral High School, Boston Catholic Memorial School, West Roxbury Central Catholic High School, Lawrence Cristo Rey Boston High School, Dorchester Fontbonne Academy, Milton Lowell Catholic High School, Lowell Malden Catholic High School, Malden Newton Country Day School, Newton Notre Dame Academy, Hingham Notre Dame High School, Lawrence St. John's Preparatory School, Danvers St. Mary's High School, Lynn Saint Sebastian's School, Needham Ursuline Academy, Dedham Xaverian Brothers High School, Westwood Closed Cambridge Matignon School, Cambridge Don Bosco Technical High School, Boston Elizabeth Seton Academy, Boston Hudson Catholic High School, Hudson Marian High School, Framingham Mount Alvernia High School, Newton Nazareth Academy, Wakefield Our Lady of Nazareth Academy, Wakefield Pope John XXIII High School, Everett Presentation of Mary Academy, Methuen Sacred Heart High School, Kingston Saint Clement High School, Medford Saint Joseph Preparatory High School, Boston St. Dominic Savio Preparatory High School, Boston Trinity Catholic High School, Newton Former Archbishop Williams High School, Braintree Cardinal Spellman High School, Brockton
Priests	John P. Brennan Charles A. Finn Gerald Fitzgerald John Geoghan George Kerr Philip King Mimie Pitaro Patrick O'Beirne Dennis J. O'Donovan Paul Fitzpatrick Russell Paul Shanley Henry A. Walsh
Other	The Pilot (archdiocese newspaper) CatholicTV Regina Cleri Catholic Archdiocese of Boston sex abuse scandal
United States portal Catholicism portal

St. John the Baptist Parish

42°31′27.8″N 70°53′37.0″W / 42.524389°N 70.893611°W / 42.524389; -70.893611
Location	28 Street Peter Street Salem, Massachusetts
Country	United States
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	https://www.jpiidivinemercyshrine.org/
History
Founded	1903 (1903)
Founder(s)	Polish immigrants
Dedication	St. John the Baptist
Administration
Division	North Pastoral Region
Subdivision	Vicariate II
Province	Boston
Archdiocese	Boston
Clergy
Archbishop	Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley
Pastor(s)	Rev. Robert Bedzinski, S.Ch.