Noticias

The Archdiocese of Chicago today announced an update on the Southeast Suburbs Renew My Church grouping.

Over the past several months, the grouping’s Feedback and Discernment Team, 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 decision has been made for the Southeast Suburbs grouping:

The Southeast Suburbs grouping includes the following parishes and schools:

• St. Agnes Parish and School (Chicago Heights)
• St. Ann Parish and School (Lansing)
• St. Irenaeus Parish (Park Forest)
• St. James Parish (Sauk Village)
• St. John Parish (Glenwood)
• St. Kieran Parish (Chicago Heights)
• St. Lawrence O’Toole Parish (Matteson)
• St. Paul Parish (Chicago Heights)

The new structure will be:

• Effective July 1, 2021, 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. 
• Fr. 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, 2021, 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. 
• Fr. Gary Graf, currently pastor of San Jose Sanchez del Rio Parish in Chicago, 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. 

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 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.