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Luzerne County church closes after 122 years

After 122 years of worship services, St. Cecilia's Catholic Church in Exeter held its final mass Sunday morning.

EXETER, Pa. — St. Cecilia's Catholic Church in Exeter announced the closure on its website only two weeks ago.

In a decree sent to Newswatch 16, the diocese sites a diminishing parish community mainly due to the death of elderly members. 

St. Cecilia's is a secondary church of St. Barbara's Parish.

Parishioner Debby Konnick says she and her family have been attending and have been active in the church for the last 45 years.

"So this church has a lot of wonderful memories. It was bittersweet today. Just going into the church and looking around and remembering the> baptisms and the conformations and the first holy communions and just all the wonderful things that we did that made St. Cecilia's Church such a vibrant church in the community of Exeter," said Konnick.

The decree also says that the one morning mass is the only activity at the church.

And St. Anthony, the principal church of St. Barbara Parish, is "more than adequate" to serve the needs of the community in Luzerne County.

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