CALAIS – Just a month ago, the Roman Catholic Diocese in Portland announced changes to how its priests would minister to its Down East parishioners.

On Sunday, more changes were announced.

The Rev. Mark Nolette is leaving Machias and going on sabbatical. He is not expected to return to Washington County. The entire county will be handled by the Revs. Frank Morin and Gene Gaffey.

The announced changes are a major departure from the three-priest plan first introduced in March, and are expected to go into effect in July.

The original plan called for the churches in Eastport, Pleasant Point, Pembroke, Calais, Baileyville and Indian Township to be grouped into one unit with two priests, Morin and Gaffey.

The Machias cluster, which includes churches in Cherryfield, Lubec and Campobello Island, New Brunswick, was to be handled by Nolette.

With Nolette’s departure, Gaffey will move to Machias, and Morin will pick up his churches in Eastport, Pembroke and Pleasant Point, in addition to the churches he already handles.

Although the plan does not call for churches to be closed, there will be seasonal schedules for some.

“Two [churches] in the summer will not have a Mass, and two [churches] in the winter will not have a Mass,” Morin said.

The proposed summer schedule calls for Saturday Masses to be held at 4 p.m. at St. James in Baileyville and 6 p.m. at St. Ann’s at Peter Dana Point in Indian Township. On Sunday, Morin will say Mass at 8:30 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Church in Calais and at 11 a.m. at St. Joseph’s in Eastport.

The winter schedule begins the first Sunday in November with Mass being said at 4 p.m. Saturdays at St. John’s in Pembroke and at 5:30 p.m. at St. Ann’s at Pleasant Point. On Sundays, Mass will be held at 8:30 a.m. in Calais and at 10:30 a.m. in Baileyville.

The schedule for Machias-area churches will remain the same. Saturday Masses will be held at 4 p.m. (Atlantic Time) on Campobello Island and 4:30 p.m. (EDT) in Lubec. On Sunday, Masses will be held at 8 a.m. in Machias and 11 a.m. in Cherryfield.

Asked whether the seasonal schedule in eastern Washington County might cause Catholics to stop attending Mass, Morin said, “People who hunger for the Eucharist and who see that as the central way we worship as Catholics will make the effort. There will be some moving around because this is going to involve the changing of patterns.”

Asked whether the changes would have a negative effect on the Indian population because Catholic priests first converted Passamaquoddy tribal members to Christianity but now Indians are seeing their churches operating only part of a year, Morin said he has heard similar concerns for non-native people.

“I have heard that from white people, too, from the people in Pembroke. They feel abandoned and in a sense we are abandoning them as regards Mass on Sunday. But there still will be funerals and weddings in their churches,” he said. “And if things can be worked out in the season they don’t have a Sunday Mass there will be a weekday Mass in their churches. That’s my hope, but I can’t promise it yet because I have to see how the schedule is going to work out,” he said.

Morin sees the changes as an opportunity for everyone. “Church is bigger than just the little building they’ve been used to going to, so we are going to have to adapt. It is going to take patience and time.

“I just ask the people to be open to it and be understanding of the frustrations that it is going to cause,” he said. “It is also frustrating for us as priests, but it is also a challenge.”

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