This fall, the 107-year-old Our Lady of Mount Virgin Catholic Church will not be open for Mass or baptisms, weddings or confessions. In a two-page statement from the Seattle Archdiocese issued in July, parishioners learned that their pleas and protests had come to a dead end: The historic church built to cater to the spiritual needs of Seattle’s Italian immigrant community was closing. The news – while expected – was still a blow.

It’s a story that is playing out in many communities across the country: fewer people attending Mass, fewer priests available to conduct the sacraments, less money to maintain century-old buildings. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, about 360 worshippers attended Mass weekly at Our Lady of Mount Virgin, down from about 480 parishioners seven years ago.