MASPETH — Faced with declining Mass attendance and rising repair costs, the Diocese of Brooklyn is considering closing Transfiguration Church in Maspeth, officials confirmed at a church town hall on March 20. 

“This is the situation we are facing,” Msgr. Joseph Calise, the pastor, told a crowd of 80 people in attendance, noting, however, that the Diocese of Brooklyn has not yet made a final decision.  

In 2024, Transfiguration Church drew an average of 148 people for its three weekly weekend Masses  — the 4 p.m. on Saturday (58), the 9:30 a.m. on Sunday (61), and 12:30 p.m. on Sunday (29) — according to the diocese. 

The church building is also in need of repairs, said Rob Dadona, director of capital projects for the diocese. 

Among the issues are a leaky church roof and brick displacement in the rectory. Dadona estimated the cost of those repairs to be $1.3 million.

Transfiguration was established in 1908 to serve the Lithuanian-Catholic community in Queens, according to the parish website, and the church still holds a Lithuanian language Mass on the last Sunday of each month. Diocese figures showed an average of five people attending that Mass each week in 2024.

Transfiguration merged with another church, St. Stanislaus Kostka, in 2019 to form one parish, Transfiguration-St. Stanislaus Kostka.

The two churches have a combined seven buildings, including two rectories and two convents, said Ana Puente, a special assistant to Msgr. Joseph Grimaldi, the vicar general for the diocese. She told the attendees that it was “a redundancy” to have such duplication.

At the town hall, parishioners offered some ideas that they thought might keep Transfiguration’s doors open, including seeking landmark status, applying for grants to pay for repairs, and reaching out to underserved communities.

“One of those underserved groups is working people,” said parishioner Marie Panas, who suggested scheduling early morning weekday Masses to accommodate those heading to work.