Mergers and closures are coming to New York’s Catholic churches.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan said that 112 parishes will be marged into 55 parishes this year and as many as 33 churches will be closed.

“This time of transition in the history of the archdiocese will undoubtedly be difficult for people who live in parishes that will merge,” stated Dolan. “There will be many who are hurt and upset as they experience what will be a change in their spiritual lives, and I will be one of them.”

The steps are part of a 2010 plan implemented by the church called “Making All Things New.”  The plan was to encourage long term pastoral planning.

The New York Times reported that many congregants at churches slated to be closed were not happy about the move.

“There were gasps and tears at Holy Rosary Church in East Harlem. At Sacred Heart in Mount Vernon, congregants shared mournful embraces,” the Times’ Sharon Otterman wrote. “And at Our Lady of Peace on the East Side, parishioners pledged a fight … From Staten Island to the Catskills, there was anguish for congregations that learned that their churches would be effectively shuttered and relief among those whose parishes were spared.”

The closures are attributed to low regular attendance and fewer ordinations of Priests.