Parish Updates
Please read below for important Parish Updates as we continue the process of merging together into one parish community.
October Counts 2024
As mentioned in previous parish communications, each year every parish in the Archdiocese conducts the October Counts to track Mass attendance. Please see below our parish’s 2024 data. You can see that the Mass Schedule revision this past year did what we hoped it would in terms of stabilizing our numbers and reducing the amount of Masses with low attendance.
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The Archdiocese recently compiled the data of all 97 parishes and the combined totals across the Archdiocese. Overall, the Archdiocese experienced growth in Mass attendance year over year from 2022-2024. This makes sense as people started coming back to Mass after COVID. However, when you compare 2024 to 2019 pre-COVID levels, the Archdiocese has still experienced overall decline in Mass attendance since 2019 (19% decline).
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Bl. Michael McGivney Parish was excited to learn that overall we have experienced growth both over the last year, as well as comparing to 2019 numbers! We grew 28% from 2023 to 2024 - 61 out of 97 parishes experienced growth this year, and we were #11 in terms of highest percentage. This year of growth in our parish came after a year of decline of 11% from 2022-2023 during the beginning of the merger. We also grew 15% overall from 2019 (combining the 2019 pre-merger church numbers together) - only 20 out of 97 parishes experienced growth in this category, and we were #14 in terms of highest percentage.
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While the population in some churches in our parish continue to shrink and/or stay about the same, and while we still have many decisions to face on the road ahead of us, we are nonetheless encouraged by this overall growth of the Body of Christ in New Haven, much of it thanks to our vibrant Hispanic communities. May 2025 continue to be another year of growth, not only in Mass attendance numbers, but more importantly in holiness and unity in Christ.
Fiscal Year 2024 Parish Financial Report
Blessed Michael McGivney Parish continues to move through a time of historic change and transition. A big part of this change has been combining our parish resources to be better stewards of the patrimony that has been handed down to us. We are proud to present the first parish-wide Financial Report for the 2024 Fiscal Year, which ran from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024. Please read the full financial report from the Pastors in Solidum below.
Revision of City-Wide Mass Schedule, Effective April 6/7, 2024
The next revision of the city-wide Mass Schedule will be taking place on April 6/7, 2024 - Divine Mercy Sunday, the Sunday after Easter. While we fully acknowledge the difficulties of change, please know that this revision is the result of countless hours of prayer, study of the data, and consultation with the parish staff and leadership. It ensures that Masses will be celebrated in each of our 8 churches with the resources we currently have available, so that we can continue to build up the Body of Christ in New Haven.
Masses Going Away:
4PM Saturday Vigil at St. Anthony Church (and 3PM Confessions)
5PM Saturday Vigil at St. Joseph Church (and 4PM Confessions)
7:30 AM Daily and 7:30 AM Sunday Mass at St. Martin de Porres Church
2PM Sunday Latin Mass at St. Stanislaus Church (as of 1/14/24)
Mass Times Changed:
9AM Sunday Mass at St. Anthony Church changed to 8AM
9AM Sunday Mass at St. Francis Church changed to 9:30 AM
10:30 AM Sunday Mass at St. Mary Church changed to 11AM
Please read the important letter from the Pastors in Solidum if you have not yet had a chance to read it, which details the reasons behind this change, as well as reference the graph of 2023 data.
Creation of New Parish Pastoral and Finance Councils
Our newly formed Blessed Michael McGivney Pastoral and Finance Councils met for the first time in October 2023, and continue to meet on a regular basis. Each council is made up of representatives from each of our churches.
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Decree of Merger
On July 1, 2023, the parishes of Saints Aedan and Brendan, Saint Anthony, Saint Martin de Porres, Saint Mary, Saint Michael, Our Lady of Guadalupe and Saint Stanislaus, will merge to form a new parish to be known as Blessed Michael McGivney Parish of New Haven, Connecticut, in accordance with canons 121 & 515 §2 of the Code of Canon Law. On June 7, 2023, Archbishop Leonard P. Blair issued a decree effecting the merger of the aforementioned parishes.​
New Haven Catholic Implementation Team Documentation
Address from Archbishop Blair to the Catholic Faithful of New Haven
"While the churches in the city of New Haven experienced some alteration during the first wave of Pastoral Planning in 2017, the plan now is to initiate an even more substantial change to support its Catholic population. Instead of simply closing or merging weakening or failing parishes, the goal is to bring the priests, churches, ministries, and resources of the city together, uniting them in the hopes of creating a stronger, more vibrant Catholic community and culture. Thus the Archdiocese will now be implementing a new, united ‘municipal model’ for the city of New Haven. The several parishes in New Haven will be brought together into a single new entity, still keeping a number of existing church buildings and serving thousands of diverse parishioners."