Chicagoland

Four parish groupings receive Renew My Church outcomes

By Chicago Catholic
Wednesday, March 17, 2021

The San Damiano Cross is the large Romanesque wood cross that St. Francis of Assisi was praying before when he received the commission from the Lord to rebuild the Church. The original cross presently hangs in the Basilica of Saint Clare (Basilica di Santa Chiara) in Assisi.

The Archdiocese of Chicago released updates on four Renew My Church groupings between March 9 and March 12.

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:

Blue Island, Posen, Robbins and St. Walter grouping

The Blue Island, Posen, Robbins and St. Walter Renew My Church grouping includes the following parishes, mission and schools: St. Benedict parish and school and St. Donatus Parish, Blue Island; St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr Parish, Posen; St. Walter parish and school; and St. Peter Claver Mission, Robbins.

The new structure will be:

Effective July 1, St. Benedict, St. Walter and St. Peter Claver Mission will unite as a new parish, with a new name, one pastor and pastoral team. Regular parish Masses will be held only at St. Benedict. St. Benedict will be the parish church where the sacramental records are kept.  Monsignor Dennis J. Lyle has been designated as pastor of the united parish.

As announced in January, St. Benedict and St. Walter schools will unite for the next school year as one school with two campuses. St. Walter will continue as a sacred space but will not have a regular Sunday Mass. The church may be used for school Masses, funerals and other special occasions.  St. Peter Claver’s Gospel Mass will be incorporated into the style and schedule of Masses at St. Benedict Church and the site will remain available for occasional events.  

The local community will discern possibilities for the new name of the parish, within guidelines provided by the archdiocese, and submit three to five options to Cardinal Cupich. 

St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr will join the St. Christopher and St. Damian grouping to continue discernment with the grouping to the west. Father Pius Eusebius Kokose, pastor of St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr, will receive a new assignment in another parish effective July 1. A priest administrator will be assigned to St. Stanislaus to lead the parish through the continuing discernment.

St. Donatus will remain in its current structure with Father Diego Cadavid as its pastor.

Southeast suburbs grouping

The Southeast suburbs grouping includes the following parishes and schools: St. Agnes parish and school, St. Kieran Parish and St. Paul Parish, Chicago Heights; St. Ann parish and school, Lansing; St. Irenaeus Parish, Park Forest; St. James Parish, Sauk Village; St. John Parish, Glenwood; and St. Lawrence O’Toole Parish, Matteson.

The new structure will be:

Effective July 1, St. Ann, St. James and St. John will unite to form a new parish with two worship sites, a new name, one pastor and one pastoral team. St. Ann and St. James will both be worship sites for the newly formed parish, with a Mass schedule to be determined by the pastor in consultation with parish leadership; this schedule may differ from the current schedules.  St. Ann will be designated the parish church where the united parish’s sacramental records are kept. Father Mark Kalema will be pastor of the newly united parish.

The specific timeline to transition Masses fully to St. Ann and St. James will be determined by parish leadership in the coming months.  The local community will discern possibilities for the new name, within guidelines provided by the archdiocese, and submit three to five options to Cardinal Cupich. Additionally, the commission recommends an annual review beginning in 2024 on the sustainability of two campuses. This way, the united parish’s pastor and leadership team can focus on unification for the next three years, prior to the start of the annual review.

Effective July 1, St. Agnes, St. Kieran and St. Paul will unite to form a new parish with two worship sites, a new name, one pastor and one pastoral team.  St. Kieran and St. Agnes will both be worship sites for the newly formed parish, with a Mass schedule to be determined by the pastor in consultation with parish leadership; this schedule may differ from the current schedules.  St. Kieran will be designated the parish church where the united parish’s sacramental records are kept. Father Gary Graf, currently pastor of San Jose Sanchez del Rio Parish, will be pastor of the newly united parish.

The specific timeline to fully transition Masses to St. Kieran and St. Agnes will be determined by parish leadership from the local community who will discern possibilities in the coming months. The  local community will submit three to five options for a new name that falls within the guidelines provided by the archdiocese to Cardinal Cupich.

St. Irenaeus and St. Lawrence O’Toole will continue their discernment with the grouping of parishes in Flossmoor, Country Club Hills, Homewood and Hazel Crest.

West Little Village grouping

The West Little Village Renew My Church grouping includes the following parishes and schools: Epiphany parish and school, St. Agnes of Bohemia parish and school and Good Shepherd Parish.

The new structure will be:

Effective July 1, Epiphany and Good Shepherd will unite as a new parish, continuing to use both churches for Mass. As one parish, the two communities will have one pastor and one pastoral team. Epiphany will be designated the parish church where the united parish’s sacramental records will be kept. Father Orlando Flores Orea, currently pastor of St. Paul, Chicago Heights, will be pastor of the newly united parish.

The united parish will be known as Good Shepherd and Epiphany Parish while the parish engages in a process to propose a permanent name for the new parish. The local community will discern possibilities for the new permanent name, within guidelines provided by the archdiocese, and submit three to five options to Cardinal Cupich.  The united parish’s Mass schedule at each location after July 1 will be a priority topic for the pastor and parish leadership in the coming months. There are no changes to Epiphany School.

St. Agnes of Bohemia will remain a separate parish. Father Don Nevins will continue to serve as pastor of St. Agnes of Bohemia Parish. There are no changes to St. Agnes of Bohemia School.

St. Bernardine and St. Luke Renew My Church grouping

The new structure will be:

Effective July 1, St. Bernardine, Forest Park, and St. Luke, River Forest, will unite as one parish with two worship sites, a new name, one pastor and one pastoral team. Both St. Bernardine and St. Luke will continue to host a regular schedule of Masses and the specific schedule will be determined by the pastor in consultation with parish leadership. St. Luke will formally be designated the parish church where the united parish’s sacramental records will be kept. Father Stan Kuca will be pastor of the newly united parish.

The RMC Commission recommends an annual review beginning in 2024 regarding the sustainability of St. Bernardine and St. Luke’s two campuses, giving that united parish’s leadership the next three years to focus on unification. There are no changes to St. Luke School.

Next steps

Over the next few months, the archdiocese and the pastors of the current parishes 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.

To learn more about the decisions on these groupings, visit renewmychurch.org.

Topics:

  • renew my church

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