When Donald Healey’s home parish in Olyphant consolidated with a Throop parish, he gained new friends and traditions.
St. Carlo Acutis Parish formed about a year ago from Holy Cross and Blessed Sacrament. Consolidation of the two formerly linked parishes has created more opportunities for collaboration between members while keeping traditions alive. The united parish took the name of a newly canonized saint, which has also attracted interest.
It’s one of many the Diocese of Scranton has merged under Vision 2030, its Pastoral Planning Process that addresses changing realities across its 11 counties. The plan calls for linkages and consolidations as parishes confront financial, infrastructure and membership challenges and as retiring priests outpace new ones.
Two linkages between parishes in North Pocono and in Susquehanna County and three new consolidated parishes were formed in July. The diocese has linked 21 parishes since 2021 and consolidated nine since 2022.
Leaders and members of linked or consolidated parishes say coming together resulted in shared ministries and councils that bring new ideas and perspectives.
Coming together in a different way
Healey, who lives in Olyphant, said the consolidated St. Carlo Acutis Parish brings the best traditions of the former parishes together while creating new ones. He has made friends since the consolidation.
“It’s a larger parish community now, more points of view, more perspectives, more ideas, and I think it’s built more relationships,” he said. “I think that’s been the biggest benefit so far.”
Joseph Butash of Dickson City said consolidation has brought more participation, particularly from youth. Parish events such as the yearly family festival, a Throop event that started in 2007, and the chicken barbecue, which originated at the Olyphant parish, have more potential customers, he said.
Last year’s family festival, the first hosted by the consolidated parish, was the most successful financially and well-attended, said pastor the Rev. Scott Sterowski.
Butash said fellow parishioners didn’t feel like strangers when the consolidation occurred. He likes that members still have churches to attend in Olyphant and Throop.
Curiosity about the name St. Carlo Acutis has brought new visitors, many of whom have joined the parish, Sterowski said. The Midvalley parish was one of the first worldwide to be named for the Italian teen canonized in September by Pope Leo XIV, becoming the first millennial saint.
Both Butash and Healey were part of previous consolidations that created Blessed Sacrament and Holy Cross parishes. Healey said having Sterowski lead both parishes helped with the transition.
Sterowski said church members are excited about the parish’s patron and the new opportunities the consolidation has created.
“It’s a chance for people to come together in a different way, in a deeper way to celebrate and to live out their faith on a daily basis,” he said.
When he was ordained in 1991, he never foresaw parishes being consolidated, but it is the reality the church is facing, Sterowski said.
“We must be responsive to the needs of the people and of the church at this present moment in time,” he said.
Laurie Munley, of Olyphant, puts her hands together during the morning Mass at St. Carlo Acutis Parish in Olyphant Friday, July 31, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Parishioners stand in the pews during the morning Mass at St. Carlo Acutis Parish in Olyphant Friday, July 31, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Rev. Scott Sterowski raises up the chalice before communion during the morning Mass at St. Carlo Acutis Parish in Olyphant Friday, July 31, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Parishioners attend the morning Mass at St. Carlo Acutis Parish in Olyphant Friday, July 31, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Rev. Scott Sterowski reads Scripture during the morning Mass at St. Carlo Acutis Parish in Olyphant Friday, July 31, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Parishioners stand in the pews as Rev. Scott Sterowski conducts the morning Mass at St. Carlo Acutis Parish in Olyphant Friday, July 31, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Laurie Munley, of Olyphant, puts her hands together during the morning Mass at St. Carlo Acutis Parish in Olyphant Friday, July 31, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Consolidation, then closure
Consolidation brought parishioners and traditions of Our Lady of Grace and Most Precious Blood churches together, but issues brought up during the Vision 2030 process resulted in one of the churches closing.
The churches, both in Hazleton, consolidated last year as Our Lady of Peace Parish. The Most Rev. Joseph Bambera, bishop of Scranton, issued a decree last month ordering Our Lady of Grace Church closed. Its final Mass is Sunday.
Bambera cited costly repairs of nearly $4 million. He also noted that while the parish has a vibrant Hispanic population, it has outgrown the spaces at both churches and moved to the larger SS. Cyril and Methodius Parish nearby.
Including Our Lady of Grace, the diocese closed three churches this year.
The Rev. Anthony Generose, pastor of the parish, said the closure has been difficult for many people, most of whom he knows well. He said supporting his parishioners is similar to consoling someone who has lost a loved one. It is also personal for Generose as the parish he grew up in, St. Mary’s Church in Lattimer Mines, consolidated into Our Lady of Grace Church in 2009.
Although merged parishes have been part of his 27 years in the priesthood, last year’s consolidation was the first time he oversaw the process himself. He said it was an interesting process that needed to be done carefully.
“It’s been a meticulous process, one that obviously needs a lot of attention when you’re bringing two different communities with two different identities together,” Generose said. “You’re dealing with people’s lives and it’s a major change for them.”
The consolidation, he said, has also been a chance for the parish to do new things together, most recently hosting an exhibit about St. Carlo Acutis at Most Precious Blood Church in the spring, which Generose said drew people from the parish and around the Hazleton area. It is also a chance to combine two festivals at the churches, Madonna del Monte and Saints of Cilento Festival, into one fall festival.
With Our Lady of Grace Church shutting its doors, Generose said having Saints of Cilento in the festival, set for Aug. 7-9, is “a ray of hope in the hardship and the grief.”
‘Try to accommodate both communities’
Although St. Ignatius of Loyola and Holy Family parishes are separate, sharing a pastor has provided opportunities for shared activities and increased support.
The parishes in Kingston and Luzerne were linked in 2022 and share Monsignor David Tressler as their pastor. He said the linkage has been a positive experience for both parishes.
“I think (the linkage) has made them stronger in the sense that they are working together, and I always feel the more we work together, we’re stronger in sharing the faith,” he said.
The transition council, which consists of parishioners from both parishes, did particularly well figuring out the Mass times, which Tressler said is the hardest part of a linkage.
“It was really nice to see them working together to try to accommodate both communities,” he said, adding it gave Holy Family Parish a more consistent Mass schedule.
It allowed for one religious education program and pastoral council for both parishes, as well as a performance by members of both choirs at an America 250 celebration earlier this month. It also meant that Holy Week Masses alternate between the parishes, and the food pantry at Holy Family Parish has had an increase in the amount of donations.
While people might have been uneasy about linkages and mergers in the past, Tressler said over time, they have come to accept going to different churches from the ones they and their family were raised in.
Tressler is no stranger to linkages and consolidations, having overseen linked parishes in Carbondale and Simpson, and the consolidation of parishes in West Scranton in 2003.
He is used to traveling between parishes but said the biggest challenge with overseeing a linked parish is ensuring people are served well. Having an assistant pastor, the Rev. Michael Boris, helps with managing the parishes but Tressler said there would have to be compromise from both parishes if there is no assistant pastor in the future.
“When that day comes that there may be only one priest serving both communities, then there would have to be some readjustment and some reevaluation,” he said.
Not ‘one-size-fits-all’
Vision 2030 was intentionally designed without a “one-size-fits-all” approach because every parish and every community has unique strengths and challenges, said diocese spokesman Eric Deabill. The process evaluates each parish based on the number of people actively participating in parish life, financial sustainability, clergy availability and the condition of facilities.
Linked parishes may decide to consolidate. Other times, parishes may remain linked for years. Deabill said many parishes have been linked for more than a decade and continue to serve their communities effectively without pursuing consolidation.
“From a practical standpoint, some linked parishes eventually recognize that consolidation can simplify administration. A pastor serving multiple independent parishes is responsible for separate finance councils, pastoral councils, budgets, reports, and in some cases similar ministries,” he said. “In some situations, parish leaders in linked parishes determine that bringing their parishes together allows them to devote more energy to pastoral ministry while also eliminating administrative redundancies.”
The process is unique to each parish, and consolidation is not an automatic outcome of a linkage, he said.