Prayers needed for church

Residents in Kirup who have been fighting for the future of the town’s church have been angered by claims from the Donnybrook Parish Council there is a “lack of interest” in the church. Churchgoers have been fighting for their church since it was revealed earlier this year the parish council intended to de-consecrate it and put it on the open market. The statement was made in the council’s Church Bulletin, a newsletter distributed to all Catholic churches in the region. “Efforts were made during the last 18 months to review the decision,” the newsletter read. “Unfortunately, there was not enough interest to keep the church operating.” Practising Catholic and Kirup resident Judy Fitzgerald said she was disappointed with the suggestion of a lack of interest. “We are very unhappy with the wording and the suggestion there is not enough interest in the church in Kirup,” she said. “The lack of interest in Kirup was not so at all, non-Catholics and Catholics have tried very hard to keep a Kirup icon open. “There are eight practising Catholics in Kirup, Balingup have six and Greenbushes have eight. “The last six masses in Kirup averaged 11 people. “There are other small parishes around us with smaller numbers than we had in Kirup and they are going along exceedingly well.” Former church-goer Mike Kelly has also advocated for the church’s survival. “I believed from the outset that no good would come from this, which is a shame,” he said. “I think if you spoke to people in Kirup and even down further to Balingup, there is a lot of interest, it just doesn’t get heard by the people that have made these decisions.” Kirup Progress Association president Angelo Logiudice said his requests for another meeting with the Parish Council were declined. “We just wanted to sit down and see what we could do, but this now could end up being a white elephant in the community and it is very disappointing, particularly in a small community that rely on these sort of things to be functional,” he said. The Donnybrook Parish Council declined to comment. A final mass is set to be held this Sunday, however Kirup churchgoers say they’ll not be attending.