Westbrook’s new Catholic parish of St. Anthony’s has elected to retain the St. Hyacinth’s Church as the parish’s permanent home.

Parishioners voted to close St. Edmund’s and St. Mary’s and move into the historic church on Brown Street at a meeting last month. That recommendation now awaits the approval of Bishop Richard Joseph Malone. Last week workers for the diocese reinstalled pews in St. Hyacinth’s that had been removed when the church closed its doors last year.

Aime Thibeault, 80, a member of the St. Hyacinth’s parish since 1925, stood outside the church last week and said he was happy to see the pews were being reinstalled. “My prayers have been answered,” Thibeault said. “I’m pleased they’re putting the benches back. It’s about time.”

As a youngster, Thibeault attended the former St. Hyacinth’s School and had attended services at the old wooden St. Hyacinth’s Church, the forerunner of the present building. He said he passed the collection basket at masses and he was a lifelong member of the parish. Thibeault and his wife, Teresa, who celebrated their 51st anniversary on Sept. 11, were married at St. Hyacinth’s. And, in keeping with family tradition, Thibeault said their daughter was also married at the church.

But after St. Hyacinth’s closed, Thibeault chose to leave Westbrook to worship. He attended masses at St. Patrick’s in Portland. Now with St. Hyacinth’s coming back, Thibeault said he is going to return. “I’m very proud of my church. I’m glad to go back,” he said.

The decision to return to the church was made at a meeting that was attended by approximately 450 people, which is about one-third of the total parish population.

Windham Town Manager Tony Plante, a member of the parish transition team, said the parishioners heard presentations of what it would entail to move the parish into each of the three churches in the city. He said the option of returning to St. Hyacinth’s, the largest church in the city, made the most sense.

“The options to use both St. Edmund’s and St. Mary’s resulted in substantial additional costs,” Plante said. “The overwhelming sense of the meeting was that it made sense to come together in the St. Hyacinth’s building.”

St. Anthony’s Pastor Rev. Reggie Brissette is currently out of the country on vacation and was unavailable for comment for this story.

The plan approved at the meeting would move all parish operations into the St. Hyacinth’s church building. The parish hall on the lower floor of the building would be remodeled into a two-floor space to allow for meeting rooms and classrooms, offices and a chapel. Plante did not have an estimate as to how much the remodeling of St. Hyacinth’s would cost.

Plante said the parish plans to sell all of its properties in Westbrook, including the two other churches and the old St. Hyacinth’s school and convent to pay for the renovations at St. Hyacinth’s. “All of the other properties would be sold,” he said. There has been some interest expressed in some of the church properties, said Plante, but he did not know the names of any potential buyers.

Parishioner Pauline Maines said she hopes the other St. Hyacinth’s properties won’t be sold. “I hope they don’t sell the buildings over there. The rectory is so nice,” she said from her home on Walker Street across from the former St. Hyacinth’s school.

Awaiting the bishop’s decision

While the parish has voted to move back to St. Hyacinth’s, the final decision as to the future of the parish rests with Bishop Malone.

Sue Bernard, communications director for the Portland Catholic diocese, said the parish’s recommendation has been forwarded to Malone. While Malone has not made a decision regarding the recommendation, Bernard said she expects he will respect the wishes of the parish.

“The bishop has indicated in the past that he very much wants to approve recommendations given at the parish level,” she said.

Bernard added if Malone were to approve the move back to St. Hyacinth’s, the building would still retain the St. Hyacinth’s name, even though the name of the parish has changed. She explained that once a church has been dedicated under a certain name, the name of the building couldn’t be changed, though names can be added to the existing name. Because of this, Bernard said the building would likely be known as St. Hyacinth’s Church in St. Anthony’s Parish.

While the parish is waiting for word from Malone, parishioners are anticipating returning to a church they thought would be closed forever when the three Catholic parishes merged last November.

Maines and her sister Estelle Maillet grew up in St. Hyacinth’s church, were baptized there and attended St. Hyacinth’s school. When the church closed, they attended services at St. Patrick’s. But about a month ago the two women began attending services in Westbrook again after meeting with Brissette.

“He won me over,” Maillet said.

Maines, who said she had her first communion in the old wooden St. Hyacinth’s Church, said she couldn’t believe it when she first heard the pews were going back. “I’m so happy about it,” she said.

Maillet said the church looked bare without some of the pews that had been removed. “It looked like a war zone,” she said.

Move difficult for some

St. Mary’s parishioner Bob Harnois, of Main Street, said he understood that it was necessary for the parish to close St. Mary’s in favor of the larger St. Hyacinth’s. “It’s the only place to go,” he said. “It can hold the three parishes without any problem.”

While parishioners like Maillet and Maines are happy about the move, there are some in the parish who realize that the decision means members of St. Edmund’s and St. Mary’s would be losing their church.

Rosalie Aube, a former transition team member from St. Hyacinth’s, said she felt sad for members of the other two parishes, as she knew the pain they’re feeling. Aube said members of St. Hyacinth’s had their time of grieving when they thought they might lose their church last year and she can appreciate what the members of the other parishes are going through.

Pricilla Hebert of Fairfield Avenue grew up in St. Hyacinth’s, but has been a member of St. Mary’s for a number of years. She said while she understands the decision to move to St. Hyacinth’s, leaving St. Mary’s will still be difficult.

“It’s just hard to let go of a church that you’ve been involved in for so many years,” Hebert said. “It’s hard for people to give up something they’ve worked so hard to establish.”

City Councilor Suzanne Joyce, who is also a member of the transition team, called the decision bittersweet and said she was sympathetic to the members of St. Mary’s and St. Edmund’s. “You hate to see the members of the other parishes have to go through the same thing we went through,” Joyce said.

Staff Writer Robert Lowell contributed to this story.

Former parishioners of St. Hyacinth’s Church Estelle Maillet and Aime Thibeault talk on Thursday, as pews were being reinstalled in the church.

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