NEW BEDFORD — For four decades, Lee Carreiro taught catechism classes at St. John the Baptist Church, helping to prepare generations of children for their First Communion in a parish that says it is the first Portuguese Catholic Church in North America.
On Sunday, she was one of the hundreds of parishioners who attended what was probably the church’s final Mass, a highly emotional service in which the pastor fought back tears from the pulpit.
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i cannot imagine a beautiful historic property in an historic city being forgotton. Someone must take action to organize and contact the decendants of the families of this church who are scattered throughout the U.S. to begin a preservation fund raising campaign. I'm sure there are many wealthy and prosperous Portuguese Americans who would support this endeavor. This is not just a church, it's a national treasure that must be preserved.