About St. John the Baptist · Fall River, Massachusetts
St. John the Baptist in Fall River, Massachusetts is a Ukrainian Byzantine (Greek) Catholic mission church that serves the small Ukrainian-heritage Catholic community of southeastern Massachusetts. It is not a Roman Catholic parish but an Eastern Catholic one in full communion with Rome, belonging to the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford, Connecticut. The mission is canonically affiliated with St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Parish in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and both are cared for by a single priest. Worship is celebrated in the Byzantine-Ukrainian rite, primarily in Church Slavonic with English used on the last Sunday of each month, preserving the liturgical and cultural heritage of Ukrainian immigrants who once formed a much larger community in Fall River's textile-mill neighborhoods.
- Patron
- St. John the Baptist
- Rector
- Rev. Msgr. Roman Golemba (mission administrator, serving from St. Michael the Archangel, Woonsocket, RI)
- Diocese
- Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford
Why belong here
St. John the Baptist offers a rare opportunity in southeastern Massachusetts to worship in the Ukrainian Byzantine rite — the same tradition kept by Ukrainian Greek Catholics for centuries and in full communion with the Pope of Rome. It is a small, intimate mission where the same priest who pastors St. Michael's in Woonsocket celebrates the Divine Liturgy and knows the congregation personally, including those who are homebound or in nursing homes. For Ukrainian-heritage Catholics, their spouses, or anyone drawn to Eastern Catholic spirituality, it is a place to pray in Church Slavonic and English, maintain cultural and liturgical traditions, and belong to a community whose roots in Fall River's immigrant textile-mill neighborhoods go back generations.
Mass times at St. John the Baptist
Weekly Mass schedule
St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church
St. John the Baptist is a Ukrainian Byzantine (Greek) Catholic mission church in Fall River, Massachusetts, at 339 Center Street, in the Diocese-equivalent Eastern Catholic structure known as the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford, Connecticut. Although geographically it sits in southeastern Massachusetts, its canonical home is across the state line in Woonsocket, Rhode Island: the mission is administered from St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Parish (394 Blackstone Street, Woonsocket, RI 02895). One priest, Rev. Msgr. Roman Golemba, serves both communities. As an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with Rome, St. John the Baptist follows the Byzantine-Ukrainian liturgical tradition rather than the Roman rite.
Byzantine-Ukrainian Identity and Eparchy of Stamford
The parish belongs to the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford, whose territory covers New England and New York State. Ukrainian Greek Catholics are in full communion with the Bishop of Rome and use the Byzantine liturgical rite in the Ukrainian recension, with Church Slavonic and Ukrainian as the traditional liturgical languages. The Fall River mission preserves this heritage for a community that once numbered in the hundreds during the era when Ukrainian immigrants worked in Fall River's textile mills, and that today numbers roughly ten families in the city.
- Eparchy: Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford (CT)
- Rite: Byzantine, Ukrainian recension
- Communion: In full communion with the Roman Pontiff
Worship and Liturgy
The Divine Liturgy is celebrated on Sundays at 8:30 AM, primarily in Church Slavonic, with the service in English on the last Sunday of each month. A bilingual (English and Old Church Slavonic) liturgy is offered on Wednesdays at 9:00 AM. Some scheduling sources also list a Saturday 4:00 PM liturgy in English. Visitors and newcomers should call ahead, as times for a mission this small can vary, and the priest travels between Woonsocket and Fall River.
- Sunday 8:30 AM — Church Slavonic (English on the last Sunday of each month)
- Wednesday 9:00 AM — Bilingual English / Old Church Slavonic
- Saturday 4:00 PM — English (per some listings)
Clergy and Pastoral Care
Rev. Msgr. Roman Golemba has been the priest of the Fall River mission and the pastor of St. Michael's Archangel in Woonsocket since 1997. Born in Germany in 1947 to Ukrainian Displaced Persons, raised in Brazil and later Boston, Msgr. Golemba completed seminary in Stamford, studied four years in Rome, and was ordained in 1975. He was named administrator of St. Michael's in August 1997 and installed as pastor on November 4, 1997. With the Fall River congregation aging, he visits the homebound and those in nursing homes about once a month and lives in the seminary house next door to the Center Street church.
- Rev. Msgr. Roman Golemba — mission priest since 1997
- St. Michael the Archangel, Woonsocket — affiliated parish
- Monthly visits to parishioners in nursing homes and at home
Community and Heritage
The Fall River Ukrainian community traces its roots to the late-19th and 20th-century immigration that brought workers to the city's cotton mills. At its peak the Ukrainian Catholic congregation was large enough to maintain its own church; today only about five families attend Mass regularly in Fall River, with another ten or so families of Ukrainian descent in the surrounding area. Despite its size, the mission remains an important cultural and spiritual anchor for Ukrainian-heritage Catholics in southeastern Massachusetts and a place where the Byzantine-Ukrainian liturgical tradition is kept alive outside the larger Woonsocket parish.
- Roots in Ukrainian immigration to Fall River's textile mills
- Roughly 10 Ukrainian-descent families in Fall River
- About 5 actively attending families
- In February 2022, the priest led a special Mass praying for Ukraine
Practical Information
The mission's mailing and physical address is 339 Center Street, Fall River, MA 02724, and the listed telephone number, (401) 763-2353, is a Rhode Island area code because calls route through the Woonsocket parish office. The mission shares its website with St. Michael the Archangel in Woonsocket, where bulletins and a parish calendar are posted. Visitors are warmly encouraged to call ahead to confirm liturgy times, especially around Great Feasts, fasting periods, and the Pascha (Easter) season, when the Byzantine calendar differs from the Roman calendar.
- Address: 339 Center Street, Fall River, MA 02724
- Phone: (401) 763-2353 (RI area code)
- Website: stmichaelsri.org (mission page StJohn.php)
- Affiliated parish office: St. Michael the Archangel, 394 Blackstone Street, Woonsocket, RI 02895
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Msgr. Roman Golemba1997–present
Appointed administrator in August 1997; succeeded Msgr. John Squiller as pastor of St. Michael the Archangel on November 4, 1997, and has likewise served as the priest of the Fall River mission; born in Germany 1947, raised in Brazil and Boston, ordained 1975.