Catholic church in U.S. demolished to make way for gas station

Demolition of the Catholic church in Roseville. Photo: Macomb Daily

Workers in Roseville, Michigan, have begun demolishing the closed Sacred Heart Catholic Church, which will be replaced by a Sheetz gas station and convenience store, LifeSiteNews reports.

The sale of the church complex, which included the church building, rectory, and school, brought the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit approximately $3.1 million. Only the stained-glass windows, roof tiles, and bell tower could be salvaged from the church, which was built in 1950 and closed in 2017. They were transferred to the nearby St. Pio of Pietrelcina Parish. The archdiocese has pledged to preserve the cemetery on the church grounds.

Parishioners tried to save the church through the courts, but a Macomb County judge rejected a lawsuit seeking to halt the demolition. Art studio owner Ed Stross, who sued the city, said he had sought to preserve the church in memory of generations of the local community.

“All the people that had family buried behind the church over there, all the people that had milestone memories of funerals and weddings and baptisms at the church, I feel for them,” Stross said. “That’s the reason I tried saving it.”

Parishioners who grew up attending the church also reacted painfully to its demolition, describing it as the loss of a family home and the center of their spiritual lives.

The demolition comes amid a major restructuring of the Archdiocese of Detroit under Archbishop Edward Weisenburger. Parish closures have been attributed to declining attendance, a shortage of clergy, and a severe financial crisis, including costs associated with settlements of clergy sexual abuse claims.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that a Catholic bishop in Detroit had proposed eliminating Sunday Masses at 90 parishes.

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