Fall River diocese marks its centennial The following are the next in a series of historical sketches of the parishes comprising the Diocese of Fall River, founded in 1904; The series will run in chronologil:al order from oldest to newest parish, according to diocesan archives, concluding in March, 2004, the centennial anniversary of the diocese. Please note that ALL parish histories will run in the order they were founded - including parishes that have been suppressed or merged. Histories ofmerged parishes will run according to the time-line.
Sacred Hearts Parish, Fairhaven FAIRHAVEN - The mission church of the Sacred Hearts was founded in 1908 by Father Marie Bernard Pierson, SS.CC., superior of the monastery of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Fairhaven. For three years previously, Masses were celebrated in the monastery with each priest speaking to the congregation in three languages - English, French and Portuguese. Father Pierson molded the 40 families of French-Canadian Catholics into a strong parish group. In 1907, the Howland homestead was purchased for the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts to establish a convent. It was occupied in 1908 and the French Catholics of North Fairhaven first worshipped in the convent chapel. With the approval of Bishop Daniel Feehan, land was purchased from Fairhaven Mills for the future church and a school, located at the rear of the church. The cornerstone of the church was laid June 8, 1908. To save money, parishioners, listed at 160 families, were asked to lend a hand in the construction and even carried the bricks from New Bedford in their own wagons.
In 1923, Father Seraphim Ooghe, SS.CC., had lowered the debt but again had to borrow to build an upper story on the parish school. In 1927 a new rectory was built and Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel, a replica of the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, wa's installed between the church and· rectory. In 1959, to commemorate its 50th anniversary, the pastor, Father Thaddeus Bouhuysen, SS.Cc., led a restoration of the church's exterior, as well as a renewal of its interior.. In 1984, Bishop Daniel A .. Cronin celebrated Mass marking the parish's 75th anniversary. The next few years showed a steady decline in the number of parishioners and on June 26, 1987, after the Sacred Hearts Fathers were forced by declin~ ing vocations to give up the parish, it was suppressed by Bishop Cronin; In ordering the closing there as well as at St. Boniface Parish in New Bedford, Bishop Cronin said," The parochial life of both St. Boniface and Sacred Hearts parishes will always remain a part of the glorious history of the Diocese of Fall River."
SACRED HEARTS CHURCH, FAIRHAVEN
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Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish, New Bedford QUA LAOVOF THE· .
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NEW BEDFORD - In 1896, the Wamsutta Mill Company sold a parcel of land at Acushnet Avenue and Logan Street to Bishop Matthew D. Harkins of Providence whose Rhode Island diocese extended to areas of Cape Cod. From then until 1908, the wooden church that was built there was known as Guardian Angel Mission, and priests from Sacred Heart Church in New Bedford served the spiritual needs of a portion of the French-speaking Catholics who lived in that vicinity. At the time, the French population of the Whaling City had mushroomed as iminigrants arrived to work in the cotton mills. In 1908 the mission church became a parish of its own and took the name of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. Father Arthur Lavoie was the first pastor. He was succeeded in 1910 by Father J.E. Potvin, who was succeeded in 1914 by Father Henry 1. Musseley, When Father Musseley returned to his native Belgium after eight years, Father Adrian Gauthier was . named pastor. For many years a parish school located on the first floor of the ch~h .building flourished under
the guidance of the Sisters of the Holy Cross and the Seven Dolors. Other pastors over the years included Father Francis E. Gagne, Father Arthur Gagnon, Msgr. M.P. Leonidas Lariviere, Msgr. Alfred Bonneau, Father William Smith, Father Roland Decosse, Msgr. Albert Berube, Father Eugene Dion, Father Leo Morais, Father J.O. Lussier, Father George S. Daigle (who led the parish during its 50th anniversary celebrations in 1958); and Father Henri Charest. But as the larger cotton mills were constructed further north of Holy Rosary's Weld Square location, so too the population of workers shifted, and by 1962 the parish that had served 450 families at its peak, had only 141 families. .When construction ofRoute 195 cut a wide swath through the New Bedford area in the early 1960s Holy Rosary Parish took another hit, as hundreds of its families were moved out of their homes as the state took land by eminent domain. Father Emest N. Bessette was Holy Rosary's last pastor. On April 25, 1966,BishopJames L. Connolly suppressed Holy Rosary Parish and its territory was assigned to St. Anthony's Parish.
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