At what may be the final Mass at Most Holy Redeemer

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Yesterday marked the final scheduled Mass at Most Holy Redeemer-Church of the Nativity on Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B, following word earlier this summer that the parish would close after Aug. 31. 

Inside the historic church — a fixture in the East Village for more than 150 years — there was no mention of the closure during the service I attended. Parishioners prayed and sang as if it were any other Sunday, even as the looming uncertainty hung heavy.

Afterward, a church employee approached me, offering a blunt explanation: "Monsignor Nelan is a very difficult man to deal with and he wants this church closed." The employee added, "It's not a matter of money, it's a matter of personnel. We have no priests! And they are transferring another one of ours to upstate." 

Parishioners are being directed to St. Brigid's on Avenue B for regular services. 

Church leaders cited a shortage of priests and the deteriorating condition of the building, including falling plaster, as reasons for the shift. 

Earlier this summer, church officials said that engineers would evaluate whether the church remains safe. (An employee of Most Holy Redeemer and St. Brigid attended the July 14 meeting and expressed skepticism about the timing of the engineering review, calling it "suspicious.")

The Archdiocese has not made a formal public statement about the closure.

Earlier vigils outside the church have brought neighbors and parishioners together, some calling on the city to protect the building through landmarking.

Village Preservation has urged action, noting the church’s deep ties to the East Village's German immigrant past and its role as one of the tallest structures in New York when it was completed in 1851.

For now, the future of the "German Cathedral of the Lower East Side" remains unclear.