News Releases

The Archdiocese of Chicago today announced updates on the Chatham/Park Manor, Summit and Bronzeville/Hyde Park/Washington Park Renew My Church groupings.

Over the past several months, the groupings’ Feedback and Discernment Teams, made up of representatives from each of the parishes and schools, met to 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 Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, the archdiocese’s auxiliary bishops and the Presbyteral Council discussed the commission’s recommendations. Based on those discussions and prayerful consideration, the following decisions have been made:

Chatham/Park Manor Grouping

The Chatham/Park Manor Renew My Church Grouping includes the following Chicago parishes and school:

• St. Clotilde Parish
• St. Columbanus Parish
• St. Dorothy Parish
• Augustus Tolton Academy

The new structure will be:

• Effective July 1, 2021, the parishes of St. Clotilde, St. Columbanus and St. Dorothy will unite as one new parish with St. Columbanus serving as the parish church.
• St. Clotilde and St. Dorothy will cease regularly scheduled Masses and move toward formal closure. 
• The specific timeline to transition Masses to St. Columbanus will be determined by parish leadership in the coming months. 

• No changes to Augustus Tolton Academy. 

Additional information will be forthcoming regarding the assigned pastor. We hope to share this information within the next few weeks.

Summit Grouping

The Summit Renew My Church grouping includes the following Summit parishes and school:

• St. Blase Parish
• St. Joseph Parish and School

The new structure will be:

• Effective July 1, 2021, St. Blase and St. Joseph will unite to form a new parish, with a new name, at two worship sites. Both churches will continue to have a regular schedule of Masses, which may differ from their current schedule.
• St. Blase will be the designated parish church where sacramental records are kept.
• The united parish will continue to support trilingual ministry in Polish, Spanish, and English. 

Further:

• Due to long-term concerns about financial sustainability identified during the discernment process, the RMC Commission has asked the united parish to focus first on uniting at two worship sites for the next three years.
• Beginning in 2024, a formal annual review process will be initiated to determine the sustainability of maintaining both campuses. At that time, both sites will be reviewed annually regarding operational efficiency, ministerial capabilities and spiritual outreach.
• St. Joseph School will be closed permanently at the end of the current academic year.

Additional information will be forthcoming regarding the assigned pastor. We hope to share this information within the next few weeks.

Bronzeville/Hyde Park/Washington Park Grouping

The Bronzeville/Hyde Park/Washington Park Renew My Church grouping includes the following Chicago parishes and schools:

• St. Ambrose
• St. Anselm
• Corpus Christi
• St. Elizabeth
• Holy Angels Parish and School
• St. Thomas the Apostle Parish and School

The new structure will be:

• St. Ambrose, St. Anselm, Corpus Christi, St. Elizabeth and Holy Angels will unite to form one parish effective July 1, 2021. Holy Angels will be the main worship site where all sacramental records are kept.

• The specific timeline to transition Masses to Holy Angels will be determined by parish leadership in the coming months. 

• St. Thomas the Apostle will remain in its current structure.
• There are no changes to Holy Angels School or St. Thomas the Apostle 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.

About Renew My Church

Renew My Church is the Archdiocese of Chicago’s response to Christ’s call and our invitation for renewal. The Renew My Church process will transform the archdiocese over the next several years by working with groupings of parishes to determine how they will achieve the goal of having vibrant, life-giving faith communities accessible to all Catholics. To learn more about Renew My Church, visit renewmychurch.org.