ALTON, Iowa — For parishioners of three Catholic churches in Sioux County, this Christmas season marks the end of one era and start of another.
The Christmas Eve Masses at St. Anthony’s in Hospers and St. Mary’s in Alton on Tuesday and Christmas Day mass at St. Joseph’s in Granville on Wednesday will be their last as independent parishes.
The three neighboring churches, part of the Diocese of Sioux City, will merge into the new St. Donatus Parish, effective Jan. 1.
The churches, formed in the 1870s and 1880s, already were somewhat unified as a “Pilgrim Cluster” of parishes, and have shared the same priest, The Rev. Dan Greving, for years. After the merger takes effect, each church will continue to have a weekend Mass and, from a practical standpoint, most parishioners “won’t see a lot of change,” Greving told Lumen Media, the diocese’s official communication.
Mark Prosser, the diocese’s …