I have been following the comments about the imminent closing of St. Anne's Church, the parish of my parents (they were married there) and of all of my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins on both sides.

I had the opportunity last week to see the devastation in the upper church, and it was a very sad sight.

Not enough focus has been put on the reason for the current state of affairs, so let me mention a few things that seem to get lost in the emotions of the current attempt to keep St. Anne's alive.

The Dominicans from Canada had two enormous french parishes in New England, Sts. Peter and Paul in Lewiston, Maine, and St. Anne's in Fall River. In fact, a longtime pastor of St. Anne's parish, Father Drouin, OP, was for many years in Lewiston before to coming to Fall River.

Prior to the closing of St. Anne's grammar school, the parish had already dwindled in numbers since people who grew up in the parish and school married and moved out of town, to Somerset, Swansea, Westport, Tiverton, etc., and started their families there. Also, along with the dwindling parish base, there was a dwindling of Dominican priests from Quebec.

Finally, the situation became dire as the parish income was severely affected and money to maintain the buildings (church and monastery) was greatly reduced, even as costs for same were greatly increased.

The Dominicans left both Sts. Peter and Paul and St. Anne's and returned to Canada, leaving the buildings in decrepit shape and with severely reduced actual parishioners, and turning them over the care of the Diocese of Portland and the Diocese of Fall River.

But this little story has two vastly different endings.

In all of these years, the Diocese of Fall River never took steps to accomplish anything but to try to maintain the status-quo. You now see the results of that plan. Nobody tried to build a new congregation in an old building. With no money, and practically no congregation, the death of the parish was a foregone conclusion.

I was told recently that the neighborhoods around the church were gone. That turned out to be a bold-faced lie. Last week, despite the road work around the church on Central, all of the side streets where many of my relatives once lived are still populated by the same multi-family tenements. Over the last 10 or so years, why has nobody visited each and every one of those streets, of those homes, and invited the residents to come worship at St. Anne's?

Meanwhile, the Diocese of Portland raised millions of dollars and totally restored Sts. Peter and Paul, then set about building a new congregation in it. Extraneous buildings were sold off; a new clergy team was installed and several smaller parishes in similar situations with dwindling congregations were closed. Those parishes were combined.

In the process of the building's restoration, Rome designated Sts. Peter and Paul to be a basilica. That is a far cry from the mess left behind when the Dominicans returned to Canada.

In all the years since the Dominicans left, why has nobody made a concerted effort to build a new congregation in an old building? This question is aimed not only at the Diocese, but also the parishioners. Those streets are still full of people who could have been invited to join the fellowship at St. Anne's. To me, that is the saddest part of all.

The approaching closing of St. Anne's could have been avoided if the diocese and the parishioners had just cared.

JC Davis

South Carolina