Anti-Catholic Archbishop closes 35 parishes



Archbishop of St. Louis closes 35 parishes, reassigns 155 priests in Catholic church reorganization


SHREWSBURY — The Archbishop of St. Louis will close 35 parishes and reassign 155 priests in the most sweeping reorganization of the Catholic church in St. Louis history.

After 18 months of waiting, Catholics learned on Saturday the fate of their priests and parishes in the downsizing of the archdiocese called “All Things New.”


 What is the St. Louis Archdiocese’s pla

The changes, which will reshape the archdiocese from 178 individual parishes into 134, were announced Saturday by Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski in a press conference and in a letter read by priests during vigil Mass.

“I wish these changes were not necessary, but it is what we are called to do at this moment,” Rozanski said Saturday.

The archbishop maintained that the plan affects the entire region, although nearly half of the closures are in north St. Louis and north St. Louis County and only one, St. John Bosco in Maryland Heights, is west of Interstate 270 in St. Louis County.

“This is something that we need to do to ensure that our faith will be here for future generations,” Rozanski said.

In addition to the parish closures, another 15 parishes will be merged to form five new parishes and a Spanish-speaking parish is being added in St. Charles County.

The parish closings and mergers do not necessarily mean that the church buildings associated with those parishes will also close; those decisions will be made later.

More details are expected in early June, including new Mass times and worship sites for merged parishes. Decisions on Catholic parish school closures or consolidations are expected this fall.

Parishioners have until June 12 to appeal the decisions to Rozanski through canon or church law.

“Many parishes including ours are anxious and fearful about decisions about the future of our parishes and where we will be going to church and worshiping God in the months ahead,” said the Rev. Robert Reiker, pastor of St. Bernadette in south St. Louis County, during his homily Saturday.

At the end of the Mass, Reiker announced his retirement and said St. Bernadette parish will close and be “subsumed” by St. Mark parish, 3 miles away near Lemay. St. Mark will also absorb St. Andrew, St. Martin of Tours and St. Matthias in south St. Louis County.

“I felt at home here. It’s very small and down-to-earth,” said Kathy Starns of Lemay, a parishioner at St. Bernadette for more than 15 years. “I feel like I’ve lost another home. I’m sad but I understand.”

At St. Martin de Porres in Hazelwood, the Rev. Lijo Kallarackal read announcements before turning to Rozanski’s letter.


Other cities undergoing similar reorganizations

• The “Beacons of Light” plan in Cincinnati last year combined 208 parishes into 57 families of parishes along with 78 priest reassignments. The number of Sunday masses in the archdiocese dropped to 512 from 588. Mass attendance increased by 6% from 2021 to 2022, although still down 19% overall from 2019.

• The Pittsburgh diocese combined 188 parishes into 57 groups in 2018 as part of its “On Mission for the Church Alive“ strategic plan. In the five years since, most of the groups have merged to form 62 single parishes under new names “as part of the ongoing effort designed to help parishes mobilize their resources to prioritize mission over maintenance,” according to the Pittsburgh diocese.

• The “Renew My Church” downsizing in Chicago started in 2016 and has since seen 344 parishes consolidate into around 200.