Three Catholic parishes in Holyoke merging in August >Published: 6/30/2021 10:47:58 AM
HOLYOKE The consolidation of Catholic churches in the region continued on Tuesday when the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield announced that it was merging three parishes in Holyoke.
Our Lady of Guadalupe parish and Immaculate Conception parish will be merged into St. Jerome’s parish on Aug. 15, Bishop William Byrne said Tuesday. Our Lady of Guadalupe has already been worshipping at St. Jerome Church on Hampden street since last fall after its former place of worship, Sacred Heart Church, was closed in March 2017 after plaster fell from the ceiling. Immaculate Conception on North Summer Street will be retained as a chapel by the newly merged parish.
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Former student recounts alleged abuse by Holyoke Catholic High School teacher
Holyoke’s Fran O’Connell, seen here in a Holyoke Catholic High School basketball photo from the 1975-76 school year. SUBMITTED PHOTO
A 1976 clipping from the Holyoke Transcript-Telegram shows high school sports star Fran O’Connell. CONTRIBUTED
Published: 6/9/2021 7:33:06 AM
HOLYOKE As a freshman at Holyoke Catholic High School in 1974, three-sport athlete Fran O’Connell was already a big name on campus. In a city zealous about its sports, O’Connell had already been promoted to the varsity football and basketball teams. Holyokers recognized him wherever he went.
But O’Connell, now 62, said that it was his new theology teacher, Robert Ellis Hosmer Jr., who showered him with the most attention: buying him gifts, tutoring him, taking him to fancy dinners and teaching him how to be sophisticated. That attention, however, came with a price as Hosmer grew more physical and began isolating the th