Peru Catholic church, St. Mary’s ends 157-year run

Nobody seemed to want to leave.

A full minute after the priests and servers left the altar at St. Mary Catholic Church in Peru – and for the final time – an almost packed house remained standing and waited for the music to finish. A few then approached the altar to take keepsake photos of the sanctuary and stained glass. A few more wiped away tears.

I feel terrible when these churches close, but if you don’t have the priests, what are you going to do?”

—  Judy Shields, former St. Mary's parishioner

Thursday was a Marian feast day – the Solemnity of the Assumption – and, thus, a fitting occasion to celebrate the last Mass at the church.

“We have a sense of sorrow, loss and mourning,” the Very Rev. Gary Blake told the throng during his homily, acknowledging the raw emotions of closing a church after 157 years. He later added, “but our journey of faith never ends.”

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Hundreds of parishioners pack St. Mary's Church during the final Mass on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in the Peru church. The church was founded in 1867. (Scott Anderson)

Thursday actually was the last of several goodbyes. Paula Atkinson, who plays organ at St. Mary’s, said Aug. 11 was the last Sunday Mass at the church, and that was an emotional experience in its own right.

“People were in tears as they left,” Atkinson said of the final Sunday service. “The choir sang ‘The Bells of St. Mary’s’ for the recessional hymn.”

Many parishioners leave behind precious memories. Judy Shields said her late husband Ed was an accomplished vocalist who sang with the St. Mary’s choir and performed at weddings – “and he loved it” – which makes it more difficult to see the doors close.

“It’s a shame,” Shields said. “There are so many churches closing. I feel terrible when these churches close, but if you don’t have the priests, what are you going to do?”

Kim Keutzer said he’s been a parishioner for 40 years and called the closure “a very sad thing,” not least of all because of its musical tradition. A succession of talented music directors capitalized on the “superb” acoustics to elevate the liturgies over the years.

“The parishioners love this church, with its beautiful marble altars, the statues and the layout of the building that makes it smaller and friendly,” Keutzer said, “but yet, with a stateliness about it that harkens back to the days when craftsmen knew how to make a house of worship feel like a good place to come and worship.

“And though the people of the parish are fewer these days, as with most churches in our area, they are still loyal to St. Mary’s to the end.”

The sorrow isn’t limited to Peru. Peggy Arter is a member of the La Salle Catholic Parishes but has attended St. Mary’s the past two years to support her daughter Sarah, a musician who sings in the church choir. Arter expressed sadness not only for the parishioners but also for the loss of an aesthetically pleasing church.

Arter said she once struck up conversation with a visiting architect from Ohio who was passing through Peru and caught sight of St. Mary’s.

“He was very impressed with its architectural design, and told me that one doesn’t find this very often in the USA,” Arter said. “He pointed out some of the features, and said that this is usually only found in churches in England, and it’s quite rare. He was very impressed.”

The silver lining is that parishioners were not blindsided by the closure. Louis Tylka, the bishop of Peoria, formally announced the church closing in May, but the news came as no real surprise to Peru parishioners. Tylka had, months before, issued a series of proposed church consolidations, and St. Mary’s was presented as a candidate for closure.

Some parishioners acknowledged that the writing had been on the wall long before that.

Keutzer remembered when, about 20 years ago, properties attached to St. Mary’s, including the school, were all sold to what was then Illinois Valley Community Hospital. Ten years later, the diocese launched a reorganization and proposed closing St. Mary’s, “but an impassioned plea by a group of people kept the church open until now, when the diocese went through the reorganization effort again.”

“So, after the events of the past 20 years,” Keutzer said, “most parishioners were not surprised by the recent decision to close the church – even though we wish that St. Mary’s could be with us forever.”

“A lot of people are very sad that their church is closing,” Deacon Dan O’Connor said, “[but] there are a lot of people who believe that this was coming for a number of years.”

Atkinson said she isn’t looking forward to the adjustment but nonetheless expressed confidence that the faith community would rebound.

“I am sad,” Atkinson said. “Dissolution is not easy. I will miss my choir family. The parishioners are a close community at St. Mary’s. Our faith is strong. We will change and grow wherever we go.”