Tom Kacich | Area Catholics confront demographic, societal change

Tom Kacich, The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
·4 min read

Oct. 9—Facing an ever-shrinking number of priests, the Catholic Diocese of Peoria is weighing a plan that would close several churches in the area over the next decade.

No churches in Champaign-Urbana (where Catholics make up about 11 percent of the population) would be shuttered in the current diocesan "Growing Disciples" plan, but among the houses of worship proposed for closure within the area are Holy Family in Danville, St. Isaac Jogues in Georgetown, St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Thomasboro, St. Michael in Bement, St. Charles Borromeo in Homer and St. Patrick in Wapella.

One of the more notable buildings recommended for closure is the imposing art deco Holy Trinity Church in downtown Bloomington, built in 1933. The Holy Trinity parish was established in 1869.

Other parishes would be merged, maintaining two buildings for the foreseeable future. One prominent local example is the grouping of St. Matthew parish in west Champaign — the largest parish in the diocese, according to 2022 average Mass attendance — with St. Boniface in Seymour. The latter would be considered a "secondary site" where Mass would continue to be celebrated. The combined churches would be served by two priests, which a generation ago was the norm but is now a rarity.

Bishop Lou Tylka, head of the Peoria Diocese, said there are 124 active priests serving 155 parishes.

The number of priests will continue to shrink, he said, to a point where there will be only 65 to 80 serving the diocese in 2050.

The decreasing number of priests comes at a time when church attendance also is waning. Within the Peoria Diocese, Mass attendance declined 19 percent between 2011 and 2019 and has fallen another 22 percent in the last four years.

"While we remain hopeful percentages may improve further, the trendline continues to be down," said Matt Fraley, chief of mission for the diocese. "That downward trend is driven by many factors, including the broader secularization in the world. As Bishop Tylka and others have said, we no longer live in a Christian-based society and have entered an apostolic age where we must go out and evangelize to bring people to Christ as the original apostles did."

Church attendance nationwide is dropping, a recent Gallup poll found, although the reduction is more acute in mainline churches. Only 31 percent of those surveyed had attended a church, mosque, synagogue or temple in the previous seven days. That's down 4 percentage points since 2019 and 14 percentage points since 2000. The high-water mark for church attendance in the United States was 49 percent in 1958, according to Gallup.

Weddings and baptisms within the Peoria diocese have also dropped at an alarming rate, diocesan officials said. Weddings are down 34 percent since 2015 and baptisms have declined 27 percent in the same period, an indication that the Catholic church is failing to attract young people and families.

"The world we live in today is different from the world known to previous generations, and we therefore need to find new ways of doing things," Tylka said on the diocesan website. "We have fewer priests. Fewer Catholics. Fewer children. People are moving. Our task is to reimagine the way we reach people with the Good News of Jesus Christ."

With limited resources and shrinking congregations, this current wave of church closings and parish mergers is likely the first of many in the coming decades.

Here's how other area parishes would be affected by the proposed changes:

* Holy Cross, Champaign: Remains standalone with one priest.

* St. Mary, Champaign: Remains standalone with one Spanish-speaking priest.

* St. Patrick, Urbana: Remains standalone with one priest.

* Our Lady of the Lake, Mahomet: Remains standalone with one priest.

* St. Philomena, Monticello: Merged with St. Joseph in Ivesdale (which would become a secondary site) and St. Michael in Bement (closed); one priest.

* St. Thomas, Philo: Merged with St. Mary in Pesotum and St. Patrick in Tolono (both secondary sites) and St. Charles Borromeo in Homer (closed); one priest.

* St. Malachy, Rantoul: Merged with St. Lawrence in Penfield (secondary site) and St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Thomasboro (closed); two priests, including one who is Spanish-speaking.

* St. Paul, Danville: Merged with St. Anthony in Hoopeston, St. Mary in Westville (both secondary sites); Holy Family in Danville and St. Isaac Jogues in Georgetown (both closed); three priests, including one who is Spanish-speaking.

* St. John the Baptist, Clinton: Merged with Sacred Heart in Farmer City (secondary site) and St. Patrick in Wapella (closed); one priest.

The proposed mergers and closings — found on the diocesan website at growingdisciplescdop.org — are just draft models, say diocesan officials. They will continue to take feedback from priests and parishioners before a final decision on the changes is announced by the bishop in May.

The continued operation of diocesan schools, such as Holy Cross, St. Matthew and the High School of Thomas More, all in Champaign, will be decided by a separate task force, Tylka said.