Andrea Macko reports at Porcupine Soup that the price of home heating oil is so high this winter that two local Catholic churches may close for the cold months. The finance committees for both the St. John the Baptist in Greenville and Sacred Heart/Our Lady of Knock in Cairo both recommended that the buildings be closed during January, February, and March of 2023, according to Father Jay Atherton on Nov. 20. The closure is, “Due to the exceptionally high cost of oil this winter,” Atherton said. Instead, the churches would invite parishioners from the temporarily shuttered churches to the Sacred Heart/Our Lady of Knock location in East Durham, which is in between the two other locations. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority reports that the average cost of fuel oil in the upper Hudson Valley region has almost doubled in a year to $6.09 a gallon. “Having reviewed their proposals, and also aware of some exceptional financial and pastoral challenges all parishes will be facing in the near future, I am inclined to accept their recommendations,” Atherton said. Read the full story at Porcupine Soup.