Noticias

The Archdiocese of Chicago today announced updates on the West Town, the Sts. Ferdinand and Ladislaus and the Kedzie-Elston Corridor 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 Presbyteral Council discussed the commission’s recommendations. Based on those discussions and prayerful consideration, the following decisions have been made:

West Town Grouping

The West Town Renew My Church grouping includes the following Chicago parishes and schools:

• St. Helen Parish and School
• Holy Innocents Parish
• Holy Rosary Parish
• St. Malachy + Precious Blood Parish and School
• St. Mark Parish
• St. Stephen King of Hungary Church
• Santa Maria Addolorata Parish

The new structure will be:

• Effective July 1, 2021, St. Helen, St. Mark and Holy Rosary will unite as a new parish with a new name, one pastor and one pastoral team.  
• St. Helen will be the main worship site for the newly formed parish.   
  • The RMC Commission asks parish leadership to annually review the best use of Holy Rosary, with a final determination  within three years. This may or may not include a regular schedule of Masses.  
  • The RMC Commission also recommends the regular schedule of Masses at St. Mark cease no later than Ash Wednesday (March 2) 2022. Local leadership will set a specific timeline for this transition. Many new parish communities have discerned transitioning Masses sooner than the recommended date is prudent for the community. 
  • There are no changes to St. Helen School.  
• Effective July 1, 2021, St. Stephen King of Hungary Church will become a canonical mission serving the Hungarian community in the archdiocese.
• Effective July 1, 2021, Holy Innocents, Santa Maria Addolorata and St. Malachy + Precious Blood will unite as a new parish with a new name to be determined later, one pastor and one pastoral team. 
  • Holy Innocents and St. Malachy + Precious Blood will be both be worship sites for the newly formed parish, with a Mass schedule to be determined by the pastor in consultation with parish leadership and may differ from their current schedule.  
  • The RMC Commission recommends the regular schedule of Masses at Santa Maria Addolorata cease no later than Ash Wednesday (March 2) 2022. Local leadership will set a specific timeline for this transition. Many new parish communities have discerned transitioning Masses sooner than the recommended date is prudent for the community. 
  • There are no changes to St. Malachy School. 

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

 

Sts. Ferdinand and Ladislaus Grouping

The Ferdinand-Ladislaus Renew My Church grouping includes the following Chicago parishes and schools:

• St. Ferdinand Parish and School
• St.  Ladislaus Parish

The new structure will be:

• The two parishes will remain separate parishes with no changes at this time.  
• The parish structure will be reviewed again in 2024 during the fifth year of the Society of Christ’s six-year contract to lead St. Ladislaus Parish.  
• St. Ferdinand School will continue to serve as the parish school of St. Ferdinand Parish. 

  
Kedzie-Elston Corridor Grouping

The Kedzie-Elston Corridor Renew My Church grouping includes the following parishes and schools:

• St. Edward Parish and School
• Resurrection Parish
• Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish
• Our Lady of Mercy Parish

Rather than making a final decision, additional discernment and prayerful consideration is needed. Cardinal Cupich endorses the direction for the grouping to move forward as two parishes.  

• As envisioned in the scenarios discussed this fall, St. Edward and Our Lady of Mercy will each remain the main site of one of the two resulting parishes.  
• Continuing discernment will evaluate what is the most fruitful and realistic future of Immaculate Heart of Mary and Resurrection campuses. No decisions have been made at this time about either church and campus, however, it is likely that either one or both will discontinue being used as worship sites once the final decision is made.  
• There will be no changes to St. Edward 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.