WESTLAND — The formerly clustered parishes of St. Theodore of Canterbury, St. Damian and Divine Savior in Westland officially merged July 1 to become a new parish community, which will be called St. Mary, Cause of Our Joy Parish.

The merger of the three parishes comes after more than a yearlong transition process involving parishioners from all three sites, and addresses several financial challenges facing the formerly clustered parishes.

The new parish will worship at the site of the former St. Theodore of Canterbury Parish, while the other two church sites — St. Damian and Divine Savior — will be closed, according to a decree issued by Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron.

According to a February letter from Auxiliary Bishop Francis R. Reiss, who was serving as administrator of the three parishes, St. Damian Parish had been carrying a debt load of $2.5 million, while Divine Savior had debts of $500,000. St. Theodore of Canterbury did not have any debt.

“The members of the Merger Transition Team believe continuing with three sites given these financial circumstances would be irresponsible,” Bishop Reiss wrote. “As much as no one wants to close any site, the debt will only get worse making closures more difficult.”

The bishop noted that members of all three parishes had consulted and deliberated on the decision for months before a recommendation was made to the archbishop.

Any money collected from the sale of buildings or property would benefit the new parish, the bishop wrote, although the debts of all three parishes would become the responsibility of the merged parish.

Fr. Ken Mazur, PIME, who became pastor of St. Mary, Cause of Our Joy Parish on July 1, acknowledged the transition could be “bumpy,” but urged parishioners to live up to the new name.

“I pray that Mary will always look down upon us, her children, and fill us with joy — the same joy she felt about becoming the mother of God’s Son,” Fr. Mazur wrote in the parish’s bulletin July 3. “Of course, she was also nervous and unsure about that as well. However, Mary knew that God was always with her, just as we can be sure that God will be with us as we begin this new parish together.”

St. Theodore of Canterbury, founded in 1963, had approximately 1,066 registered families, while St. Damian had 577 and Divine Savior had 308. St. Damian was founded in 1955, and Divine Savior was founded in 1973.