CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Archdiocese of Chicago announced it is consolidating 19 parishes and schools into seven parishes and one mission, including whittling down 15 churches. The move comes after crunching numbers during a restruction process part of the initiative Renew My Church
Updates will affect the Hegewisch and Burnham, Lemont, Lincoln Square, Milwaukee Avenue North and the East Little Village Renew My Church groupings.
Starting next year, many of the parishes will combine into one or two churches depending on the needs of the communities.
But the news has not been received well by many church members, who gathered Saturday at several churches to voice concern over the closings and regroupings.
Luke Schutt, a graduate of St. Thecla, expressed disappointment and anger toward the closings and told reporters outside the church that he is ashamed of the news.
"Any person that sat down and looked at this knows they made the wrong decision," Schutt said.
St. Thecla will close and will unite with St. Cornelius and St. Tarcissus to form a new parish and school, starting July 1, 2020. Before the news, parishioners from St. Thecla held a vigil Thursday as they waited the fate of their parish.
Bishop Mark Bartosic said he understands how the decisions will be painful for people.
"We need to rally our forces and concentrate our resources in one site, and two sites will be left out," Bartosic said.
Cardinal Blase Cupich, the Archbishop of Chicago who is leading the changes, said the consolidations are necessary and will help the archdiocese grow stronger in the future.
The groupings are as follows:
St. Florian will serve as the parish church for the newly formed parish, where the pastor’s office and parish records will be kept.
St. James at Sag Bridge Parish will become a mission of Ss. Cyril & Methodius Parish, effective July 1, 2020. This transition recognizes the declining numbers of priests available to serve as pastors. The status as a mission will allow St. James at Sag Bridge Parish to retain its historic identity and character while operating under the priest leadership of Ss. Cyril & Methodius. The pastor of Ss. Cyril & Methodius will work with the leadership of both Ss. Cyril & Methodius and St. James to integrate administrative functions and ministries to best steward their resources for investment in each community’s ministry needs.
Queen of Angels and St. Matthias Parishes will unite to form a new parish. Queen of Angels Church will be the parish church, where the pastor’s office and parish records will be kept.
St. Tarcissus Church will be designated the parish church, where the pastor’s office and parish records will be kept.
Effective July 1, 2020, St. Thecla School and Pope Francis Global Academy’s North campus will unite as a newly named parish school at the St. Tarcissus campus for the 2020/21 school year.
Our Lady of Tepeyac will be designated the parish church for the new parish, where the pastor’s office and parish records will be kept.
The three parishes will unite to form a new parish, effective July 1, 2020. The leadership and parishioners of the new parish will discern possibilities for the new parish’s name within guidelines provided by the archdiocese and will submit their candidates to Cardinal Cupich for his decision on the permanent name.