St. Vincent de Paul Church Shuns Portuguese Community

It saddens me to inform the public that the Holy Ghost festival that has taken place in Attleboro since the late 70s will come to an end. In addition, Portuguese mass that was held at St. Vincent de Paul church will also be eliminated.

After a new priest, Father Dariusz Kalinowski was assigned to the church he informed the Portuguese community he would be banning the Holy Ghost festival, a Portuguese tradition brought to the United States and has lasted for centuries in the community along with morning mass, specifically the only Portuguese mass.

The Portuguese community had several meetings, both in groups and as individuals and have been denied any requests that have been made. Yet, the priest and Bishop daCunha claim they want to help the community but have done nothing to prove such. Furthermore, the Portuguese community was told during a meeting, if they didn’t like the changes, they could walk out the door of the church.

The Portuguese community has brought cultural traditions, volunteered endless hours for the church and has donated endless amounts of money both from the festival and individually to the church. The Portuguese community has purchased and donated many items to the church.

The Portuguese community has been shunned. If anything has come of this, is that parishioners have left the church due to lack of transparency from the church and lack of appreciation for all the Portuguese community by has done for St. Vincent de Paul Church.

It truly saddens me after all the Portuguese has done for the church they are not appreciated by the church and shunned. Unless we come together as a community, nothing will be done, and the church will continue to not be forthcoming with their parishioners.

Please note: Bishop daCunha was emailed for an interview regarding the situation and did not respond for comment.