Country United States Founded 1903 (1903) Province Boston | Denomination Roman Catholic Founder(s) Polish immigrants Dedication John the Baptist | |
Location 28 Street Peter Street
Salem, Massachusetts Similar St Joseph Catholic Church, St Mary's Roman Catholic, Holy Cross Church - Boston, Sacred Heart Church, St Aidan's Church | ||
St. John the Baptist Parish - designated for Polish immigrants in Salem, Massachusetts, United States.
The parish was founded in 1903. Originally mass was celebrated in Immaculate Conception Parish in Salem, and as the Polish immigrants to Salem grew, its own church was needed. The first church was erected on Hebert Street, along with a school building. Years later, it bought the recently closed Baptist church on St. Peter Street in Salem, and renovated it, which included added a second floor. In the 1960s a school was added with a large parking lot. The school closed in the early 1970s due to low enrollment.
As the Archdiocese of Boston implemented a new effort to combine parishes together with one pastor to serve them, in 2013 St. John the Baptist Parish had its first non-Polish pastor. It started in a collaboration with the other three Roman Catholic parishes in Salem, St. James, Immaculate Conception, and Ste. Anne (although a year later, Ste. Anne's parish left the collaborative). Mass is still celebrated each Sunday and several other times each week in Polish (along with English).
In October 2016, it was announced that the pastor of St. John the Baptist, Reverend Daniel J Riley, will be leaving the collaborative. Along with his departure, most of the staff was fired and the school building was closed for use, shutting down the bingo that help fund the parish for the last 43 years. An administrator is scheduled to be assigned before 2017, until a new pastor arrives
It is one of the few remaining Polish-American Roman Catholic parishes in New England in the Archdiocese of Boston. Masses are celebrated daily (except for Tuesdays) at 8:00 AM, and Saturday evening at 4:00 PM. Sunday mass is at 10:00 AM in Polish and 11:45 AM in English. There is also a novena to St. Jude Monday nights at 7 PM.