It’s a summer of mixed blessings for Catholic parishioners in Dorchester and Mattapan.

The pastoral leadership line-up has been shuffled in recent weeks and, as we’ve reported in these pages, for two churches in particular— St. Ann and St. Brendan— there’s continuing anxiety about the path forward for the now-united Neponset parish “collaborative.” Meetings will continue through the summer doldrums as parish leaders and rank-and-file churchgoers huddle to figure out ways to reduce a growing financial debt and deferred maintenance costs that present an existential threat to the church buildings, according to the new pastoral team — Rev. Brian Clary and Rev. Robert Connors, who were installed at St. Ann-St. Brendan in May. With the parish having been asked to make a series of recommendations by September, it’s a process that continues to unfold.

The news is more upbeat elsewhere, despite the imminent departure of St. Gregory’s popular leader, Fr. Vincent Daily. Fr. Vin— as he’s affectionately known— is leaving Dorchester Avenue at the end of this month after a ten-year stint in Lower Mills to begin a new assignment at Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston. Fr. Daily will be feted by the St. Gregory’s community— which includes parts of Dorchester, Mattapan, and Milton— at a party planned for Florian Hall on Sat., July 28 at 5:30 p.m.

Fr. Daily has been an inspired fit at the diverse collaborative that included St. Gregory’s, St. Angela Merici in Mattapan, and St. Matthew on the Dorchester-Mattapan line. He worked hard to learn Haitian Kreyol— the language most spoken in the collaborative after his native English. And he created a welcoming tone at all three churches. He’ll be missed.

The sting of Rev. Daily’s departure is eased by the news— announced last weekend from the altar— that his replacement will be a familiar face to many in Dorchester. Rev. Jack Ahern will take over pastoral duties at St. Gregory’s on Aug. 1 and, in another new development, the Lower Mills parish will once again become a stand-alone congregation.

Rev. Gustave Miracle, who worked with Fr. Daily as the chief Haitian-speaking priest in Mattapan, has been re-assigned to lead Christ the King Church in Brockton. A new Haitian-speaking priest, Fr. Garcia Breneville, took charge as the administrator at St. Angela and St. Matthew, effective July 1.

Rev. Ahern — or Fr. Jack— led the Tri-Parish of Holy Family, St. Peter’s, and Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta from 2009 until 2016, when he was re-assigned to Randolph. More recently, he led the flock at St. Patrick’s in Roxbury.

He has been a fixture of religious and civic life in Dorchester for the last decade— and his return to the neighborhood’s oldest Catholic outpost (St. Greg’s opened in 1863) is very good news.

Rev. Ahern’s posting is not the only change made this summer. Rev. John Ronaghan will begin a new role as pastor of St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish, which includes St. Margaret’s Church. It’s a homecoming for Fr. Ronaghan, who attended the old St. Margaret grammar school as a child.

Fr. John Currie, who took over as pastor of the Tri-Parish from Trev. Ahern in 2016, will now be tasked with overseeing St. Patrick’s, the Roxbury church that will now be part of the newly formed tri-parish that will include Holy Family and St. Peter’s in Dorchester.

– Bill Forry