BLESSED DAY FOR PAWCATUCK CHURCH PARISHIONERS
Above, the Most Rev. Michael Cote, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Norwich, center, the Rev. Dennis Perkins, right, pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Church, and altar server Connor Beverly watch Monday as a crew from Vermont Timber Works raises the first of the timber beams that will support the roof of the new St. Michael the Archangel Church in Pawcatuck. Left, Linda Norton, a parishioner and writer for the Four County Catholic, the newspaper of the Diocese of Norwich, records video. The 150-year old church was condemned in 2012 after structural problems were found to be too severe to repair. The new church will be built on the original foundation. Parishioners have embarked on an ambitious fundraising effort to pay for the restored church. Vermont Timber Works, which is owned by a former parishioner of the church, erected the first of the timber trusses after Cote’s blessing to the cheers of parishioners and students from the parish school.