St. Mary Roman Catholic Church : Newport — Attraction in Newport

St. Mary's is my childhood church. Baptized, First Communion, Confirmation, the whole nine yards. Father McCarthy was a tough but fair pastor. He would face any problem head on! Unfortunately, as people get older there comes a time for retirement. Father McCarthy retired and in 2013 a new pastor entered the lives of many parishioners.

One day a short time ago I asked the new pastor if I could see him for reconciliation. When I arrived for our scheduled appointment he was nowhere to be found. The ladies in the Parish Office called him and 30 minutes later he finally arrived. I sat down with him and before I could even get my first sentence out of my mouth he told me that he didn't believe that I went to church on a weekly basis. Then he started making up lies and said that is what I should confess about. I personally was mortified! I couldn't believe what was coming out of this "priest" who serves Our Lord!!! What kind of priest would do this. Obviously, this one does.

Days later I felt the need to get my displeasure off my chest and decided to write a letter to him so I could talk to him about this situation. He never responded to my first letter so I wrote a second letter. Finally, about two months after my first letter he responded and we set up another meeting at the Parish office. The day of the meeting arrives and he is nowhere to be found again. After numerous emails and phone calls I finally hear from him only to discover that he left an angry and nasty message on my voicemail. Other parishioners that knew of my situation went up and asked why he wouldn't talk to me. The Pastors response was "that there are crazy people out there and he didn't feel safe!!! Really Father??? You are a priest and you use that as an excuse for just not having a backbone. You are totally in the wrong line of work!

What kind of priest would tell you what to confess and then make excuse after excuse not to meet you. I haven't attended mass at St. Mary's since that incident and I don't intend to go to another mass there until this priest is gone! I really wish he never became...

Let me start by saying that I love St. Mary’s Church. I’m not one to write reviews but after my experience with Father Mark I feel compelled to do so. My mom Laura, a devoted Catholic, passed away in December, after a long beautiful life of 100 years! Father Mark performed the Funeral Mass. What took place can only be described as deplorable. First of all, Father Mark never addressed the speakers by name, which was most disrespectful. One of the speakers, a great- niece of my mom, who traveled 3 hours to attend the funeral, was denied her opportunity to speak. The chosen nieces to bring up the gifts were also denied this honor. But the worst act of disrespect to my mom was when her 2 granddaughters were told to stop while in the middle of their eulogy! When my daughter politely said to Father Mark she wasn’t quite finished, he instructed the organ player to start playing music! I, and the whole church, could not believe what we were witnessing. Father Mark should be ashamed of his actions. He should also be reprimanded and removed from St. Marys and or the priesthood. Priests like him give the Catholic Church a bad reputation. How can a person’s life of 100 years be given 5 minutes to honored and eulogized? To top it off, Father Mark didn’t have the decency to shake our hands as we were leaving. If Father Chris were still at St. Mary’s, this never would...

Trivia question: When she remarried, she was Jacqueline Onassis. But before she married JFK, what was her maiden name?

JFK and Jackie were married here on September 12, 1953. This Gothic Revival church is Rhode Island's oldest Catholic parish as it was founded in 1828. The ceremony was officiated by Archbishop Richard Cushing of Boston, with a special blessing read from Pope Pius XII.

It was built between 1848 and 1852, the church reflects both the aspirations of Newport's growing Catholic community and the stylistic preferences of the era. The building's exterior is defined by its massive, rough-cut brownstone walls, which give it a sense of permanence and gravity. A steeply pitched roof and soaring steeple rise above Spring Street, creating a vertical emphasis typical of Gothic design. The sculptural entrance, with its pointed arch and recessed doorway, reaches out to the street in a gesture both welcoming...