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Archdiocese of Chicago Provides Updates on Two Renew My Church Groupings

May 10, 2021

The Archdiocese of Chicago today announced updates on the Wicker Square and Greater Ashburn 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 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 Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, 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
  • 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, 2021.

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

 

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
  • 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, 2021.

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.

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.