Quaint Church Closing Up

The St. Anne Catholic Church in Griswold will soon close its doors after serving the community for more than 100 years.

The church on Route 201 opened in 1891 and has now fallen into disrepair. It would be too costly to bring the church up to code so instead it will close down, according to Rev. Ted Tumicki, the church's pastor.

"It's going to be sad," said Monique Manuzzi, who has attended services at the church for most of her life. "All 12 of us kids, all of my brothers and sisters, went here. I was married here. My mother's funeral was here about four years ago. It's just really sad."

The church now has just one weekly mass at 7 a.m. on Sunday mornings.

There are three other Catholic churches nearby for St. Anne parishioners to attend, according to the Diocese of Norwich.

"The parish did a wonderful job of trying to hold onto the church for so many years," said Michael Strammiello, the spokesman for the Diocese of Norwich. "Its time has come as a physical structure."

"It's making me give up the Catholic faith. It makes me not believe in it anymore because I thought it would never close," said Manuzzi.