Rev. Joseph Upton departs All Saints
Simas tabbed administrator
WOONSOCKET — After helping to carry out a recent move by the Diocese of Providence to merge St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church on North Main Street with All Saints Parish on Rathbun Street, the Rev. Joseph R. Upton, administrator for both parishes, is moving on to a new assignment as pastor of Saint Mary of the Bay Parish in Warren.
In a letter going out to All Saints parishioners, Rev. Upton announced that Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, Bishop of the Diocese of Providence, has named him as pastor of St. Mary the Bay Parish and also assigned, the Rev. Ryan Simas, the pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Parish on Mendon Road as All Saints administrator.
“I am excited to begin this new chapter of ministry, but I am sad to say goodbye to the good people of All Saints,” Rev. Upton said in his parish announcement.
“I believe we have accomplished a great deal together at a parish community in the last year. I am pleased to say that we now have established lay leaders who are working with a common vision to maintain stability,” Rev. Upton said.
“We are in a much better position – pastorally and financially – than we were a year
ago. I have been constantly amazed by the fact that whenever I made a request of anyone at this parish, I was never told “no,” he said.
“Your generous “yes” as a parish community to acts of charity, to financial support, to volunteering, is a testament to your commitment to All Saints,” he continued.
“There have been many graces, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to have served you. I am especially grateful to the staff and volunteers with
whom I have worked closely over the past year. They will continue to serve with determination and generosity,” Rev. Upton said.
The parish administrator’s duties in the past year also included work at St. Charles to prepare that parish for a controversial shutdown ordered by Bishop Tobin due to declining membership and religious rites.
While initially moving to end the use of the historic church built by local Irish Catholics and its North End parishioners and dissolving the parish under opposition from the Save St. Charles Church parishioner group, Tobin ultimately rescinded those decrees and more recently allowed for the merger of St. Charles Parish with All Saints. The change moved St. Charles assets and records to All Saints but includes the allowance that the historic stone-built church can continued to be used as a second place of worship by the combined parish into the future.
As a result of the coronavirus crisis, All Saints on Rathbun Street and St. Charles on North Main have remained closed to public Masses but the parish is planning a resumption of services for a limited number of parishioners by reservation the weekend of June 6 and June 7, Rev. Upton noted.
“Details are yet to be worked out,” Rev. Upton noted.
“In order to accommodate as many people as possible, and to ensure that all surfaces can be sanitized after each Mass, we are instituting a trial Mass schedule. Masses will be celebrated on Saturday at 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., and on
Sunday at 8 a.m., 10 a.m., and 12 noon,” Rev. Upton noted.
Parishioners will not be invited to “just show up” and some form of advanced registration will be required to avoid any crowding at the listed services, according to Upton.
As for the parish’s new administrator, Rev. Upton described him as an “energetic, young (younger than even me) and a gifted pastor.”
In addition to serving as pastor of St. Joseph Church in Woonsocket, Rev. Simas is also a chaplain at Saint Raphael Academy in Pawtucket, Rev. Upton noted.
“I know that I am leaving you in good hands and I know that you will welcome him as warmly and generously as you welcomed me,” Rev. Upton said.
Rev. Simas also sent the parish a letter and noted he was impressed by All Saints parishioners’ “deep faith, your desire for holiness, your deep love of your parish, and your passion for serving God’s people – especially the less fortunate among us.”
Rev. Simas said he is looking forward “to beginning this new chapter in our lives,” at All Saints and offered, “So long as we place Christ at the center of who we are and what we do as a parish, and ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we have nothing to fear.”
He concluded by noting “while every transition is difficult to some extent, let’s keep one another in prayer over the next several weeks and I can’t wait to be with all of you around the altar to celebrate the Sacrifice of Mass.”