CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Archdiocese of Chicago announced Friday several Catholic church and school closings on the city's South Side, as well as new church and school consolidations in the southwest suburbs.
Four of the six church closings involve one area of the city, as part of the Renew My Church's Bronzeville/Hyde Park/Washington Park grouping.
St. Ambrose, St. Anselm, Corpus Christi, and St. Elizabeth churches will close. They will join Holy Angels and unite to form one parish effective July 1. Holy Angels, located at 615 E. Oakwood, 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. Elizabeth Church is envisioned to become a Venerable Augustus Tolton Heritage Center intended to be a shrine upon Fr. Tolton’s beatification. St. Thomas the Apostle will remain in its current structure.
There are no changes to Holy Angels School or St. Thomas the Apostle School.
Also on the South Side, as part of Renew My Church's Chatham/Park Manor grouping, St. Clotilde and St. Dorothy churches will be closing in July and uniting with St. Columbanus Church, located a 331 E. 71st St.
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.
News will come later regarding the assigned pastors.
There will be no changes to Augustus Tolton Academy.
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In Summit, St. Blase and St. Joseph churches will 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.
News will come later regarding the assigned pastors.
But in two years, the parish will decide if it’s financially feasible to keep both churches open for Masses. Both sites will be reviewed annually regarding operational efficiency, ministerial capabilities and spiritual outreach.
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St. Joseph School will be closed permanently at the end of the current academic year.
Additionally, Christ Our Savior in South Holland, Sacred Heart in Melrose Park, and St. Ann in Lansing will be closed permanently. The closures go into effect June 30.
“Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, made the difficult decision to close the schools based on their low and steadily declining enrollment levels and large financial deficits,” the archdiocese said, noting a combined 31 percent decrease in enrollment over the last four years and a $1.12 million combined deficit during the current school year.
The Archdiocese of Chicago said two schools, St. Benedict in Blue Island and St. Walter in the city's Morgan Park neighborhood will be merging to form one school, known as the “St. Walter-St. Benedict School” until a permanent name has been decided. The new school will continue to utilize both campuses, which are about a mile apart, with upper grades attending classes at the St. Benedict campus and lower grades at the St. Walter campus.
The unification of St. Benedict and St. Walter is one of several consolidations that come as part of the “Renew My Church” campaign.
The archdiocese said the aim of “Renew My Church” is to ensure parishes “achieve the goal of having vibrant, life-giving faith communities accessible to all Catholics.”