As we prepare for the celebration of St. Theresa’s 60th anniversary this July 24th, we wish to recapture and share in a short series some of the many fond memories and highlights of our history. Saint Theresa’s has the honor of being the only Catholic church in New Berlin, New York, and is still one of the most active parishes today, with numerous charity projects and weekly services. Despite being one of the newer churches New Berlin has to offer, we still have a long-seated and proud history in the region.
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For many years the Catholics in New Berlin attended mass and received the sacraments in Norwich and Sherburne in the Diocese of Syracuse, and Morris and Edmeston in the Diocese of Albany. However, the distance they had to travel in going to and from mass each Sunday imposed a hardship on those Catholics. In the winter months, snow and ice and the hills of the area combined to make travel most difficult and dangerous and many times impossible. Despite these obstacles, they remained strong in their Catholic faith. In fact, if anything, their faith grew stronger and the hunger for religion and their own Catholic church became more intense.
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As the need for a Catholic parish in New Berlin became more evident, a petition was circulated to see how many would support a parish in New Berlin. When enough signatures had been gathered, on Monday April 26th, 1954, a group of Catholics in and surrounding the village wrote a letter to Bishop Foery. They asked to see the bishop to arrange to have mass celebrated in New Berlin each Sunday.
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After a lengthy search for a resident priest and the building needed to hold services in, Saint Theresa’s Catholic Church opened its doors for the first time on July 24th, 1956. The structure used was located on a roughly two acre plot of land purchased by the Syracuse Diocese along NYS Route 8 in downtown New Berlin. Even the building itself has a unique history, serving as a store, a butcher shop, a law office, and a temporary school in the past. Today, Saint Theresa’s continues to uphold the Catholic mission while demonstrating the pillars of honesty, hard work, and faithfulness that are a staple of the surrounding community.
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In the next article, we discuss the group of men and women behind the founding of our church, and take a greater look at the pivotal early members who made our parish’s dream a reality.
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