The Archdiocese of Chicago announced Thursday the latest round of parish mergers and closures as part of Cardinal Blase Cupich’s “Renew my Church” initiative. The mergers mostly affect parishes in Chicago proper, as well as in the suburbs of Waukegan and Elk Grove Village.
Most of the mergers announced Feb. 6 involve the merging of two or more parishes, many of which have schools associated with them. Two of the new groupings include the merging of four current parishes into one.
The groupings are currently named 63rd Street, South Shore, West Ridge, Elk Grove Village, Southwest, East Side, Waukegan, and Ss. Genevieve and Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr. The as-yet-unnamed merged parishes will be able to propose new name ideas to Cupich, according to an announcement from the archdiocese.
Feedback and Discernment Teams made up of representatives from each of the parishes and schools involved in the groupings met to review and discern the future parish, school, and church structures for their respective areas, and submitted feedback reports to the Archdiocesan Standards and Recommendations Commission, the archdiocese said.
The commission met to review the feedback reports and other materials and information, including demographic data, financial summaries, and parish and grouping trends. Cardinal Cupich, his auxiliary bishops, and the Presbyteral Council discussed the recommendations and ultimately made the decisions for the mergers. Cupich announced the Renew my Church initiative in 2016, and at the time around 100 parish closures were expected amid a shortage of priests and church buildings in need of repair, the Tribune reports.
The mergers will take effect on July 1. CNA
