Keeping the Faith: Saint Clair
The Diocese of Allentown arranged that consolidation in 2008 due to declining church populations locally and a shortage of priests, meaning St. Boniface, St. Mary's, Immaculate Conception, and Sts. Peter and Paul were now one.
Each of those parishes had long histories, being formed by families new to America, with St. Boniface being the oldest, opening in 1853.
Their congregations were loyal, as was true in each of Saint Clair's 17 churches, an impressive number of for a small borough, with three more in nearby Wadesville.
But now those days of apprehension about the merger seem long ago, with St. Clare of Assisi being a close-knit parish that has an average of about 230 attending its two masses each weekend, said Msgr. Bill Glosser.
St. Clare of Assisi Church is located on E. Hancock Street in St. Clair, photographed Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
Catholics in town used to live next door to each other but attended different churches, based on their family's nationality or traditions, but now they're all part of the same group, which Glosser believes has tightened the community.
You can see that togetherness at the church's fundraisers, Glosser said. He spoke of its annual Lenten pierogi sale in particular, when about 50 women from the parish and a few men come together one morning to pinch the dough as they create those local favorites, all pitching in for the same good cause.
'It's amazing,' Glosser said of how the congregation has connected. 'People that lived a block away but didn't know each other are now best friends.'
A stained-glass window within St. Clare of Assisi Church in St. Clair, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
In his more than five decades of public service in Saint Clair, Mayor Richard E. Tomko has seen a lot of changes in town, including a decrease in population to the current 2,700 or so who now live in the borough.
The number of churches has also dropped, with there now being 11 in town.
Back in 2000, when Saint Clair observed the 150th anniversary of its founding, that sesquicentennial celebration included an open house where residents and guests could visit each of the town's churches.
'Many of them had never been in these churches before, other than their own,' Tomko said.
What they saw that day was incredible, Tomko said, in terms of architecture and diversity among those buildings and parishes.
Some of the Stations of the Cross line a wall within St. Clare of Assisi Church in St. Clair, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
Entering some of them felt like being across the ocean in a church in Ukraine or England, he said, and the choirs and organs created amazing sounds in honor of each denomination, he said.
Those churches helped make the borough what it is, he said.
'They created a beautiful mosaic,' he said.
A statue of Mary and Jesus sits within St. Clare of Assisi Church in St. Clair, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
And though some of the remaining parishes have far fewer people attending services than they once did, the remaining members remain devoted, he said.
'They put a lot of hard work into keeping their churches going,' he said. 'That's admirable.'
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