51黑料

WENTZVILLE 鈥� St. Gianna Catholic parish is young, growing and vibrant. It is also likely to be disbanded under 鈥淎ll Things New,鈥� the downsizing project by the Archdiocese of 51黑料.

The newest parish in the archdiocese, St. Gianna opened in 2006 to serve a booming St. Charles County population. Less than 20 years later, consultants working for the archdiocese have proposed converting St. Gianna to a Hispanic community parish with Spanish language Mass.

St. Gianna parishioners, including many who are founding members, first learned of the plan this fall at presentations held at all 178 parishes in the archdiocese. They felt stunned, confused and hurt, said Missy Welby, president of the newly formed Friends of St. Gianna. Now they are speaking out against the plan, sparking a debate about the parish鈥檚 mission.

鈥淲e have everything here that is beautiful, holy, and rich,鈥� Welby said. 鈥淲hy do they feel the need to change our parish?鈥�

St. Gianna is hardly the only parish facing an uncertain future.

Around 100 parishes will be slated for mergers or closure after the 鈥淎ll Things New鈥� plan is announced on Pentecost Sunday in May. Priests from across the archdiocese got a preview of the plan in August. At the time, there were three potential scenarios for St. Gianna 鈥� it would merge with St. Patrick in Wentzville, Immaculate Heart of Mary in New Melle or Immaculate Conception of Dardenne.

In all three scenarios, St. Gianna would lose its geographic boundaries to become a Hispanic parish. The separate parish is needed in part because of a beef processing plant under construction in bordering Warren County, according to a video shown during the presentation for St. Gianna.

鈥淭his new plant will create several thousand jobs that will most likely be attractive to members of the Hispanic community,鈥� the narrator says.

American Foods Group says its slaughterhouse will employ about 1,300 workers by the opening date in late 2024.

But the 500,000-square-foot plant actually sits in Holy Rosary parish in Warrenton, on the south side of Interstate 70 between Wright City and Foristell, 11 miles west of St. Gianna. Holy Rosary, 10 miles west of the plant, currently offers a weekend Mass in Spanish. The Holy Rosary 鈥淎ll Things New鈥� workbook says the influx of jobs from the plant 鈥渂odes well鈥� for the Warrenton parish鈥檚 future.

Priests and lay leaders who also got an early look at the plans pushed back on the idea of a Hispanic parish at St. Gianna. They suggested St. Barnabas in nearby O鈥橣allon, a recommendation shared by the archdiocese鈥檚 Hispanic ministry subcommittee.

St. Barnabas, with 282 Catholic households, is nearly half the size of St. Gianna and sits about 20 miles east of the beef processing plant. St. Barnabas hosts the only traditional Latin Mass in St. Charles County.

After feedback from the priests and lay leaders, a fourth proposal was floated with St. Barnabas as a Hispanic parish. St. Patrick would annex the territory of St. Gianna, which would then convert to a personalized parish serving homeschooling families and the liturgically conservative community with the possibility of a Latin Mass.

The fight to keep St. Gianna intact has an influential backer 鈥� state Sen. , R-Lake Saint Louis, a founding member of the parish. Onder, who is leaving the Legislature on Jan. 4, is the procurator, or representative, of the laity under church canon law for Save Our 51黑料 Parishes. The group is prepared to appeal any 鈥渓arge-scale parish mergers鈥� all the way to the Vatican.

Less than 4% of the population in the St. Gianna territory is Hispanic. The justification for a Hispanic parish relies on the assumption that meatpacking workers are Spanish-speaking Catholic churchgoers, Onder said.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think the meatpacking plant is a reason whatsoever to turn St. Gianna into a Hispanic parish,鈥� Onder said. 鈥淚 think we have a lot of almost racist stereotypes at work here.鈥�

The Rev. Tom Vordtriede, pastor of Holy Rosary, said in a statement that while he offers one Sunday Mass in Spanish, he is 鈥渘ot equipped to meet the full ministerial and cultural needs of my Spanish-speaking congregants鈥� compared to a personal Hispanic parish with other ministries like pastoral counseling and marriage preparation.

Why St. Gianna?

The 鈥淎ll Things New鈥� process has revealed some obvious winners and losers among the 178 parishes. The fate of some, like St. Gianna, do not follow such a logical path.

St. Gianna symbolized 鈥渢he continued growth and vitality of the church鈥� when it became the first new parish since 1981, then Archbishop Raymond Burke said at the time. The expansion tracked with white Catholics moving to St. Charles County from north 51黑料 County, where 17 parishes became four after a consolidation in 2005.

The strategic plan called for a new parish in the St. Charles Deanery, and Wentzville was chosen after its population tripled from 2000 to 2005.

The archdiocese paid $1.5 million for 25 acres of farmland on the south side of Highway N across from Wentzville South Middle School. The boundaries for the new parish were cut from those of St. Patrick in Wentzville and Immaculate Conception in Dardenne Prairie.

Because of its age, St. Gianna counts many parishioners as loyal founding members. The Rev. Timothy Elliott remains their beloved founding pastor who placed blessed medals and blessed salt in the foundation of the church building.

鈥淭here鈥檚 something worth preserving here,鈥� said Elisabeth Meinecke, one of the leaders of Friends of St. Gianna.

Brian Niehaus, 23, runs the youth ministry and manages a robust calendar with service projects, social events and sports including fencing. Parish leaders are especially focused on engaging the 18- to 25-year-old age group that tends to fall away from the church after high school.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e hungry for this,鈥� Niehaus said.

The parish paid off its debts in 2020 from construction of the church and now has close to $1 million in reserves, according to the archdiocese. Parishioners donated more than $500,000 to the offertory in 2021, according to the archdiocese.

Parishioners also point to spiritual attributes that would seem to bolster St. Gianna鈥檚 case for survival. The parish was featured in in September for their eucharistic procession and for doubling adoration or worship hours to four days a week. The parish has produced two priests and one deacon in its first 16 years. Six youth are currently considering a vocation in the church.

Fifty new families registered with the parish in the last year. Sixty people attend Mass daily on weekdays. Attendance now exceeds pre-pandemic numbers, a rarity in the archdiocese. Lines for confession have been known to stretch the length of the church.

鈥淲e would think we鈥檙e the least likely candidate because we have all these beautiful things going on that can be a light to the rest of the archdiocese,鈥� said Welby, the president of Friends of St. Gianna.

鈥楾he more souls, the better鈥�

When St. Gianna opened in 2006, the archdiocese anticipated the new parish would attract 1,000 Catholic households in five years. But by 2011, the parish had only 455 households. This year, there are 528.

Most Catholics who live within the St. Gianna boundaries are affiliated with other parishes. Only 15% of Catholic households in St. Gianna鈥檚 territory are parishioners, one of the lowest rates in the archdiocese.

鈥淲hile there is no arguing about the good works going on at St. Gianna鈥檚,鈥� planners are concerned that the majority of Catholics in the parish attend other churches, said the Rev. Chris Martin, vicar for strategic planning for the archdiocese, in a statement.

Young families who live in St. Gianna鈥檚 borders are more likely to join St. Patrick or Immaculate Conception in part because they have schools, parishioners said.

St. Gianna was built with a school that was supposed to open soon after the parish was founded in 2006. But the recession and collapse of the housing market delayed those plans.

Elliott, the pastor, continued to field calls from prospective families who were languishing on waiting lists at St. Patrick or Immaculate Conception schools. Finally, the plan for a parish school was scrapped in 2010.

鈥淲hen things turn around, we will be ready to move forward,鈥� Elliott told the Post-Dispatch at the time.

As parishioners waited, they grew a homeschooling community to what is likely the largest in the archdiocese. Every Friday morning, about 100 students attend a homeschooling co-op in St. Gianna鈥檚 classrooms, where parents teach enrichment classes like Latin, religion, art, drama and literature.

Parishioners say they would still welcome a school if it meant attracting more families. They would also be eager to add a Spanish-language Mass to the schedule.

鈥淲e鈥檙e thirsting for growth,鈥� said founding St. Gianna member Mike Brown. 鈥淟et鈥檚 integrate the Hispanic community. The more souls, the better.鈥�

The main problem is a dwindling number of priests to assign to parishes, archdiocesan leaders say. A parish of 500 families is on the smaller side in St. Charles County. The goal for 鈥淎ll Things New鈥� calls for an average parish size of 1,800 households.

鈥淧riest availability, demographic shifts and pastoral needs鈥� are changing and parishes need to change as well, said Martin of the archdiocese.

鈥淚t is always a good thing that people love their pastor and vice versa,鈥� Martin said. 鈥淎t the same time, Archdiocesan priests and their parishes know that for the greater spiritual good of both the priest and parish, priests are moved frequently throughout their lives so that it is Jesus Christ who is the center of parish life.鈥�

That鈥檚 troubling to St. Gianna members like Katie Keys, whose son Paul is in sixth grade and is considering the priesthood under Elliott鈥檚 guidance.

鈥淚 want to be in a parish where I know our priest and our priest knows us,鈥� Keys said.

If the priest shortage is of top concern, St. Gianna should be saved for its track record of producing priests, Onder said.

鈥淭hey know that St. Gianna does not meet any of the Canon Law criteria for closing a parish,鈥� Onder said. 鈥淭hey are setting up this new parish to fail, then they have 25 acres of prime real estate in the fastest growing area of our state. I hate to be cynical but that鈥檚 what it looks like.鈥�

A new saint for a new parish

The parish was named for St. Gianna Beretta Molla of Italy, who died in 1962 and was canonized in 2004. Beretta, a doctor who treated mothers, children, the elderly and the poor, refused to terminate her pregnancy against the advice of her surgeon after she was diagnosed with a uterine tumor. She died a week after her fourth child was born.

That child, Dr. Gianna Emanuela, first visited Wentzville for the parish鈥檚 10th anniversary in 2016. In the sanctuary, she saw a shrine holding a remnant of her mother鈥檚 first Holy Communion gown, locks of her hair, a pair of her gloves and murals depicting their family.

St. Gianna, patron saint of mothers, doctors and unborn children, inspires the anti-abortion ministry of the parish, including a rosary prayer every Saturday morning. Expectant mothers receive their own special blessing once a month. The pews are filled by large families with teenagers, kids and babies.

At a recent Sunday Mass, Elliott announced the parish鈥檚 first ever Christmas dinner with a catered buffet and performance by the children鈥檚 choir.

The upcoming dinner will be an annual event, he said, repeatedly emphasizing the word 鈥渁nnual.鈥�

Robert Cohen of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

Editor鈥檚 note: The Rev. Linus Dolce became the temporary parochial administrator of St. Barnabas the Apostle in O鈥橣allon, Mo., on Sept. 1.聽An earlier version of this story incorrectly said St. Barnabas had no resident priest.聽