About St. Francis of Assisi · New Bedford, Massachusetts
St. Francis of Assisi was a Roman Catholic parish in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in the Diocese of Fall River. Founded in 1928 to serve the city's Italian-American community, the parish worshipped in a modest white-clapboard church originally built in 1908 as a Protestant meeting house on the corner of Mill and Newton streets. In its later years the parish was part of the three-church Whaling City Catholic Community with Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. Lawrence Martyr. On May 25, 2025 the Diocese of Fall River announced the suppression of the parish, with St. Francis's final Mass celebrated in late June 2025.
- Established
- 1928
- Patron
- St. Francis of Assisi
- Rector
- Rev. Michael S. Racine
- Diocese
- Diocese of Fall River
Why belong here
St. Francis of Assisi was a small, intimate parish in New Bedford's West End where generations of Italian-American families were baptized, received First Communion and Confirmation, were married, and mourned their dead. Pastors were known for an informal, down-to-earth homiletic style and up-close personal interaction with parishioners, and the building's stained-glass windows made it a unique setting of Italian Catholic devotion. Although the parish was suppressed in June 2025 after 92 years, its members were welcomed to continue worship at the sister parishes of Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus or St. Lawrence Martyr within the Whaling City Catholic Community.
Mass times at St. Francis of Assisi
Weekly Mass schedule
Parish Identity and Patron
St. Francis of Assisi Parish was a Roman Catholic community in New Bedford, Massachusetts, named for the beloved Italian saint of humility. Founded in 1928, it gave the Italian-American families of the West End a parish of their own in a city dominated by Irish, Portuguese, and French-Canadian Catholic traditions.
- Patron: St. Francis of Assisi
- Feast day: October 4
- Rite: Roman-Latin
- Denomination: Roman Catholic
Founding and Early History
The parish was founded in 1928 to minister to New Bedford's Italian-American community, at a time when the city hosted some 20 Roman Catholic churches. The Diocese of Fall River acquired a small Protestant chapel built in 1908 at the corner of Mill and Newton streets and rededicated it as St. Francis of Assisi, beginning more than nine decades of Italian-rooted Catholic worship on that site.
- Founded: 1928
- Church building originally constructed: 1908 (Protestant evangelical association)
- Original purpose: serve the Italian-American population of New Bedford's West End
Architecture and Stained Glass
The worship space is a modest white-clapboard church renovated by Fr. Ronald Toste in the 1970s. Its interior is distinguished by full-scale stained-glass windows devoted to Italian saints — the patron St. Francis of Assisi, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Catherine of Siena (a Doctor of the Church and co-patron of Italy with St. Francis), and the child martyr Maria Goretti — as well as windows depicting the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph.
- Style: modest white-clapboard former Protestant chapel
- Renovated in the 1970s under Fr. Ronald Toste
- Stained-glass windows of Italian saints Anthony of Padua, Catherine of Siena, Maria Goretti
- Windows also depict the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph
Whaling City Catholic Community
St. Francis of Assisi was a member of the Whaling City Catholic Community, a three-parish collaborative that also included Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (565 County Street / 121 Mt. Pleasant Street, New Bedford) and St. Lawrence Martyr, under the leadership of Fr. Michael Racine. The collaborative shared Faith Formation, First Communion, Confirmation, and other sacramental preparation across the three parishes, and a single priest rotated among them for weekend Masses.
- Partner parishes: Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. Lawrence Martyr
- Combined Faith Formation program
- Joint First Communion and Confirmation celebrations
- Single priest rotating weekend Masses among the three churches
Closure and Legacy (2025)
On May 25, 2025, Bishop Edgar da Cunha announced that the Diocese of Fall River would suppress St. Francis of Assisi Parish effective June 30, 2025, citing long-term declines in Mass attendance and priestly vocations. Parishioners were directed to re-register at Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus or St. Lawrence Martyr. A final Mass of Thanksgiving was celebrated by Bishop da Cunha and Fr. Racine on Friday, August 15, the Feast of the Assumption, marking 92 years of the parish's presence in New Bedford.
- Diocesan announcement: May 25, 2025
- Parish suppression effective: June 30, 2025
- Mass of Thanksgiving: August 15, 2025 (Feast of the Assumption)
- Receiving parishes: Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; St. Lawrence Martyr
- Fr. Michael Racine reassigned effective July 1, 2025 to St. Bernard (Assonet) and St. John Neumann (East Freetown)
Contact and Directory Information
Parish records and sacramental inquiries for former St. Francis of Assisi parishioners are now handled through the Whaling City Catholic Community office.
- Parish address: 247 North Street, New Bedford, MA 02740
- Phone: (508) 997-7732
- Fax: (508) 991-6630
- Email: [email protected]
- Community website: https://whalingcitycatholics.org/
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Ronald Toste1970s
Credited with the still-handsome interior renovation of the church; last Italian-born pastor.
- Rev. Kevin Harrington2002–2020 (retired)
Assigned by Bishop Sean O'Malley in 2002; grew up at 84 Mill Street and lived at the 284 Mill Street rectory; died suddenly in 2020 shortly after retirement.
- Rev. Michael S. Racine2019–2025
Arrived June 2019; led the three-church Whaling City Catholic Community collaborative; oversaw final years and the parish's closure in June 2025; reassigned effective July 1, 2025 to St. Bernard (Assonet) and St. John Neumann (East Freetown).