Dear Editor, 

Our St Mary Catholic Church, Vinton, Iowa, is a modern, air-conditioned, well-maintained facility, totally accessible, with a parking lot of 169 spaces, including thirteen designated handicapped, and room for many more spaces of both types. St. Mary Vinton comfortably holds 300, and during Christmas, about 400 people squeeze into the main church and gathering space. There is an accessible-by-elevator lower level with restrooms and a modern kitchen for faith community events. Thirteen acres are attached to the church for future growth, with a total property size of over nineteen acres.

Classrooms for faith formation, k-adult, are attached to the church and also accessible. There is a “vibrant” worship community. We have a talented group of musicians, choir director and choir that has members spanning from middle school to over 80 years of age. A comfortable rectory with garage could shelter two priests. AND, St. Mary Vinton is debt-free!

Last fall, the Archdiocese of Dubuque initiated a “process of discernment” called “Journey in Faith.” There were meetings, a survey, data collection, and comments solicited for consideration of a plan to chart the future of the diocese for the next 25 years. Preliminary plans A and B included St. Mary Vinton with one or two weekend masses, and no talk of closures. Plan C was so rough that it did not show St. Mary Vinton at all on the map. Consolidation into pastorates was drawn onto the maps, to be determined. Conclusion: our county seat church would remain a center of worship for Benton County.

Nevertheless, in April, 2026, we were told with no explanations, that our church would be losing its weekend mass, (step one to closure). We were incredulous, shocked, angry.

We respectfully asked both Archbishop Zinkula and our designated new Pastor, Father Neil Manternach of St. Joseph’s in Marion, 39 miles away, for explanations TWICE with no responses from either in the last two months. Then we read about the shuttering of other Catholic Churches nation-wide. But we saw that our situation did not fit their problems. Ending weekend masses leading to closure and consolidation of parishes seems to be a solution being arbitrarily applied through consulting firms that dioceses have hired to do the groundwork for them.

We are refugees as of now, being sent away from our church home, through no fault of our own. After July 14th, we are told we should attend St. Mary Urbana, 11.9 miles away. This church cannot hold our numbers so we would crowd our friends and neighbors there, cause them inconvenience by adding blocks to their parking, make both groups file down to their church basement to only watch the mass going on upstairs on their TV. Our friends and neighbors would suddenly inherit us. This “transition” situation makes us migrants until January, 2027.

After January, 2027, an unannounced series of “mergers and extinctions” of churches will be announced, and we have already been told to travel to Hiawatha or Marion, the seat of our pastorate, for a weekend mass, located 31 or 39 miles away, respectively. Or we can just show up at neighboring parishes IF they retain their rural mass schedules. Rural Catholics are being herded into the cities. We are told by friends who are parishioners in these cities that they do not have room for us either and a few of their churches are also being closed arbitrarily! This makes us nomads, wandering as convenience, weather, accessibility, parking, and room to sit dictate, with no more sense of a community of the faithful, no priests to know us.

Refugees, migrants, nomads…and how will this encourage more vocations? How will this build faith-filled communities? We “strong-willed” Catholics are fighting back…we have appealed to Rome…Holy Father, Save our Church!

With hope,

Kathleen Van Steenhuyse

50-year member, St. Mary Catholic Church, Vinton IA