More parish consolidations announced in south suburbs as footprint of Chicago-area Catholic Church shrinks
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The Archdiocese of Chicago’s consolidation of its faith communities continued Wednesday, with an announcement that several parishes in the south suburbs will combine under shared names and clergy.
St. Ann Parish and School in Lansing, St. James Parish in Sauk Village and St. John Parish in Glenwood will be united to form one parish with two worship sites and one pastoral team, the archdiocese said in a news release. Fr. Mark Kalema will be pastor of the newly united parish, which will hold regular Mass only at St. Ann and St. James, with the schedule to be determined.
St. Agnes Parish and School, St. Kieran Parish and St. Paul Parish in Chicago Heights will also combine as one parish with two active sites of worship and one team of clergy. A Mass schedule, also to be determined, could include worship at St. Kieran and St. Agnes. Fr. Gary Graf, currently pastor of San Jose Sanchez del Rio Parish in Chicago, will be pastor of the newly united parish, according to the archdiocese.
In both cases, the local faithful can submit three to five name suggestions for their new parishes to the archdiocese following guidelines provided by Cardinal Blase Cupich.
Final determinations for St. Irenaeus Parish in Park Forest and St. Lawrence O’Toole Parish in Matteson have not been finalized, the archdiocese said in the release.
As with other consolidations announced this week, the changes are effective July 1. These consolidations are part of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s “Renew My Church” initiative designed to deal with falling Mass attendance, declining Catholic school enrollment and an increasingly limited number of priests to tend the Catholic faithful.
A spokesperson for the archdiocese has said to expect further announcements of parish consolidation through Friday evening.
