New FSSP Parish in Nashua, New Hampshire

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I have just heard that the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter have been invited by the bishop of Manchester, New Hampshire, His Excellency Peter Libasci, to staff a parish in Nashua, starting at the end of the summer.

I heard of this through my friends at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, who live just a stone’s throw away, and I anticipate that many of the students will attend regularly. By all accounts, the church will need little renovation to make it appropriate for the Latin Mass. Here is an article in the Nashua Telegraph from 2011 with photographs, in which the writer talks of the beauty of the church; at time, it was being used as a chapel for perpetual Adoration, which continues to this day.

The press release from the Diocese of Manchester, dated May 20th, read as follows:

(MANCHESTER, NH) – The Most Reverend Peter A. Libasci, Bishop of Manchester, announced today that the Diocese of Manchester will soon be blessed with the opening of a new parish dedicated to the celebration of the Tridentine Rite Mass, when the former Saint Stanislaus church in Nashua will reopen. The new parish will be entrusted to the members of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP). While a pastor for the new parish has not yet been named, current plans call for the celebration of the first Mass in early August.

“Since coming here in 2011, I have heard from many Catholics who have a deep affection for the traditional liturgical forms of the pre-Vatican II era,” said Bishop Libasci. “Consistent with that desire I am happy to announce the opening of this parish, dedicated to the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, as suggested by Pope Benedict XVI in his Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum, issued Motu Proprio in 2007.” Saint Stanislaus parish, established in 1908 to serve the Polish community of Nashua, was unified with Saint Aloysius of Gonzaga Parish in 2002. The church has remained in use since then as a Eucharistic adoration chapel. Since 1999 it has also been the home of the Corpus Christi Food Pantry. The pantry, with its many dedicated volunteers, will continue to offer its valuable services and programs that serve those who are in need in the greater Nashua area.

The Diocese of Manchester is the Roman Catholic Church in New Hampshire, serving the needs of more than 264,000 Catholics. For more information, please visit www.catholicnh.org.