Closing for the sale of the former SS. Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Church at Franklin and Church streets in Palmerton was set to take place today.

Father Edward Higgins, administrator of the Palmerton parish, noted there have been no services at the church for nearly the past three years.

“Due to attrition of parishioners and lack of clergy,” Higgins said. “There were no alternatives other than to close the church.”

The final Divine Liturgy was celebrated May 26, 2019.

Higgins didn’t know who was buying the church.

“(It was) to a private buyer, and what his intentions are, I don’t know.”

Higgins, who has been a priest for 46 years, said the sale of the church is bittersweet.

“It’s the end of an era of the Rusyn Eastern Catholic presence in the borough of Palmerton,” he said. “It was a very tight-knit little community who loved their church, and made many sacrifices to keep things going for all these years.”