The Archdiocese of Chicago released updates on six Renew My Church groupings between May 10 and May 14. Over the past several months, the groupings’ feedback and discernment teams, made up of representatives from each of the parishes and schools, met to review and discern the future parish, school and church structures for their respective areas. Based on their meetings and discussions with the larger parish communities, they submitted feedback reports to the Archdiocesan Standards and Recommendations Commission, which includes representatives from across the archdiocese. The commission reviewed the feedback reports and other materials and information, including demographic data, financial summaries and parish and grouping trends. Over the course of the past several weeks, Cardinal Cupich, the archdiocese’s auxiliary bishops and Presbyteral Council discussed the commission’s recommendations. Based on those discussions and prayerful consideration, the following decisions have been made: Wicker Square Grouping The Wicker Square Renew My Church grouping includes the following Chicago parishes and schools: St. Aloysius Parish, St. Hedwig Parish, St. John Berchmans parish and school and St. Mary of the Angels parish and school. The new structure will be: St. Hedwig and St. John Berchmans will unite to form a new parish, with a new name that will be determined later, at two worship sites. Both churches will continue to have a regular schedule of Masses, which may differ from their current schedule. There are no structural changes to St. John Berchmans School. Additionally, the commission recommends that St. Aloysius become an additional worship site for the new parish formed by unifying St. Helen, Holy Rosary and St. Mark. St. Mary of the Angels and its school will remain in their current structure. These changes will go into effect no later than July 1. Additional information will be forthcoming regarding the assigned pastors. Greater Ashburn Grouping The Greater Ashburn Renew My Church grouping includes the following Chicago parishes and schools: St. Bede the Venerable parish and school, St. Denis Parish and St. Thomas More Parish. The new structure will be: St. Bede the Venerable and St. Denis will unite to form a new parish, with a new name that will be determined later, at two worship sites. Both churches will continue to have a regular schedule of Masses, which may differ from their current schedule. St. Thomas More will become a canonical mission, connected to the newly formed parish of St. Bede and St. Denis. These changes will go into effect no later than July 1. Orland-Tinley Grouping The Orland-Tinley Renew My Church grouping includes the following parishes and schools: St. Elizabeth Seton Parish, Orland Hills; St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Orland Park; St. George parish and school, Tinley Park; St. Julie Billiart Parish, Tinley Park; St. Michael parish and school, Orland Park; Our Lady of the Woods Parish, Orland Park; St. Stephen, Deacon and Martyr Parish, Tinley Park; and Cardinal Joseph Bernardin School, Orland Hills. All seven parishes and schools, and Cardinal Bernardin School, will remain in their current structure. Part of the uniqueness of this Orland-Tinley grouping is that the parishes are well situated, in that they cover a large geographic area. Further, the parishes host a wide variety of ministries that serve area Catholics. O’Hare Neighborhood Grouping The O’Hare Neighborhood Renew My Church grouping includes the following parishes and schools: Immaculate Conception parish and school (Talcott Avenue); St. Juliana parish and school; Mary, Seat of Wisdom parish and school, Park Ridge; Our Lady of Hope Parish, Rosemont; Our Lady of Ransom Parish, Niles; and St. Paul of the Cross parish and school, Park Ridge. The new structure will be: Our Lady of Hope will become a mission of Mary, Seat of Wisdom Parish and regular Sunday worship will continue at both locations. Immaculate Conception, St. Juliana, St. Paul of the Cross and Our Lady of Ransom will remain in their current structures. Operations at the four schools among the parishes will be unchanged. These changes will go into effect no later than July 1. St. Bruno-St. Richard Grouping The St. Bruno-St. Richard Renew My Church grouping includes the following Chicago parishes and schools: St. Bruno parish and school and St. Richard parish and school. The new structure will be: St. Bruno and St. Richard will unite to form a new parish, with a new name to be determined later, at two worship sites. Both churches will continue to have a regular schedule of Masses, which may differ from their current schedules. This change will go into effect no later than July 1. School structures will continue to be discerned, with a final decision by November. Kedzie-Elston Corridor Grouping The Kedzie-Elston Corridor Renew My Church grouping includes the following Chicago parishes and school: St. Edward parish and school, Resurrection Parish, Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish and Our Lady of Mercy Parish. The new structure will be: As announced previously, Resurrection Parish will fully unite into Our Lady of Mercy. Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish will cease as a parish and be canonically divided between Our Lady of Mercy and St. Edward parishes. These changes are effective July 1. The Renew My Church Commission additionally recommended that all regularly scheduled Masses at Immaculate Heart of Mary transition to Our Lady of Mercy and St. Edward no later than June 30. St. Edward School operations will not change. Next Steps Over the next few months, the archdiocese and the current parish pastors will support the communities in their transition to the new parish and school structures. The archdiocese’s Renew My Church accompaniment team will work with local leaders to ensure the uniting faith communities and staff are supported through this time of change. All parishes will embark on the next phase of renewal to become a stronger, more sustainable and capable of reaching more people in their work of making disciples of Jesus Christ, building communities and inspiring witness. For more updates about Renew My Church, visit renewmychurch.org.
Grants from Lilly Endowment to help spiritually renew parishes Three organizations in the Archdiocese of Chicago have received grants from the Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative to support projects aimed at helping parishes engage in ongoing spiritual renewal.
Day of Renewal invites leaders to deeper understanding of the Eucharist Hundreds of parish leaders and clergy attended the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Day of Renewal on Sept. 25 at the Rosemont Theater in Rosemont.
Parish leaders to gather for Day of Renewal Sept. 25 in Rosemont Archdiocesan priests, clergy serving in parishes and parish leaders will gather at the Rosemont Theater for a Day of Renewal on Sept. 25. It is the first time leaders from across the archdiocese will gather since in the Renew My Church Summit in 2018.