Mark Knobbe, left, walks to his car with his son Nick Knobbe, 29, and granddaughter Natalie, 2, after 8 a.m. Mass on Sunday, May 28, 2023, at St. Francis of Assisi in Portage Des Sioux.
WENTZVILLE 鈥 Applause broke out twice during Sunday Mass at St. Gianna Catholic Church, first when the Rev. Timothy Elliott said the parish would remain unchanged and again with the news that he is staying on as pastor.
The 鈥淎ll Things New鈥 downsizing of the Archdiocese of 51黑料 鈥 which will cut the number of parishes from 178 to 135 鈥 came as a relief for many Catholics after prior proposals would have seen more than half of the parishes close. Others expressed sorrow and even confusion over what archdiocesan terms like 鈥渟ubsumed鈥 mean for the future of their churches.
Elliott said he was 鈥渏oyously shocked鈥 to read the letter from Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski outlining the future of St. Gianna, the youngest parish in the archdiocese. A draft released last month showed the parish merging with Immaculate Heart of Mary in New Melle, a plan formally opposed by Elliott and many of his parishioners in communications with Rozanski.
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Not all of the surprises for parishes were positive. Christ the King in University City will absorb the former territories of All Saints Parish in University City, St. Rita Parish in Vinita Park and St. Roch just north of Forest Park in 51黑料.
鈥淢y only question is if the building would necessarily go away or be sold because it鈥檚 such a treasure,鈥 said Bill Hannegan, 65, of St. Roch. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a beautiful, beautiful building. My grandmother was an original member from the day the church was built. This is going to take St. Roch鈥檚 people by surprise because they thought there was a deal worked out.鈥
"I thought today would be the day we found out about which building," said lifelong parishioner Vola Harper, right, who visits with her sisters Sharon Costello Millison, left, and Phyllis Costello Allen, center, during the monthly social after 10:30 a.m. Mass on Sunday, May 28, 2023, in the gymnasium attached to St. Nicholas Church in Downtown West. St. Nicholas will merge with Most Holy Trinity in Hyde Park and Sts. Teresa and Bridget in Jeff-Vander-Lou to form a new parish. The worship location has not yet been determined.
Much of the confusion on Sunday circled around the future of the church buildings in closed or merged parishes. Those decisions will be made over time by the new pastors and parishioners, according to the archdiocese. The decrees outlining the changes to parishes say the churches will remain 鈥渁 sacred edifice to which the faithful have the right of entry.鈥
None of the parish closures are in north 51黑料 city, which historically has seen the most consolidation in the archdiocese. But extensive mergers left a lot of questions about what would remain, particularly for Black Catholics.
One yet-to-be-named new parish will include Our Lady of the Holy Cross in the Baden neighborhood; St. Augustine in Hamilton Heights; St. Elizabeth, Mother of John the Baptist in Penrose; and St. Matthew the Apostle in the Ville.
鈥淲hat is going to the happen with the buildings, and are we all going to be able to keep our food pantry open?鈥 said Rita Kemna, 75, after Mass let out Sunday at Our Lady of the Holy Cross. 鈥淢ost everybody is concerned about outreach programs.鈥
鈥淚 just hope they can keep this church here,鈥 said Christine Misuraca, 60, who鈥檚 been attending the Baden church since she was 2 and wants her funeral held there. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 picture it being closed.鈥
Even though they weren鈥檛 officially closed like 35 other parishes, Richard Burgdorf, 78, president of the Holy Cross parish council, was disheartened by the 鈥淎ll Things New鈥 process.
鈥淢y God has not let me down,鈥 said Burgdorf. 鈥淢y archdiocese has let me down. I have lost respect for the leadership of the archdiocese because they are still not telling us everything.鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 not going to be four churches,鈥 Burgdorf, whose great-great-grandfather helped establish Holy Cross, added of the merger.
New gifts to share
Another new north city parish will include Most Holy Trinity in Hyde Park; St. Nicholas in Downtown West; and Sts. Teresa and Bridget in Jeff-Vander-Lou.
On Sunday morning at Sts. Teresa and Bridget, the Rev. Scott Jones revisited the same message he gave at the start of 鈥淎ll Things New.鈥 In the early church, he said, the faithful congregated in homes and other places on the go. Now that there are church buildings, many are insular.
鈥淚n fact, some of our most beautiful church buildings have very few people worshiping in them,鈥 he said from the pulpit. 鈥淎 healthy church isn鈥檛 the building, it鈥檚 the people.鈥
He said there will be new gifts to share and people to meet as the merger takes shape this summer.
Outside after Mass, Edna Hester, 75, an optimist, took things in stride.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to do what we鈥檝e got to do,鈥 she said of merging. 鈥淚t happened before, it鈥檒l probably happen again before it鈥檚 over. You call yourself a Christian, you need to get along with everybody and make it work. If you have a bad attitude, you are going to feel bad all the time. I don鈥檛 have time for that.鈥
The Rev. Aaron Nord begins 7:30 a.m. Mass at Immaculate Heart of Mary in 51黑料 on Sunday, May 28, 2023. It was announced Saturday night by the Archbishop of 51黑料, Mitchell Rozanski, that Nord will be reassigned as pastor of St. Stephen Protomartyr parish on Aug. 1, 2023, as part of the Archdiocese's 鈥淎ll Things New鈥 plan.
Pastors at Immaculate Heart of Mary and St. John the Baptist in south 51黑料 told their parishioners on Sunday that weekend Mass would continue at each church even after Aug. 1, when the parishes will close and be absorbed by St. Stephen Protomartyr.
The Rev. Aaron Nord, 45, of Immaculate Heart of Mary will become the pastor of St. Stephen.
鈥淭he parish community will be one community worshiping in three church buildings,鈥 Nord said. 鈥淓very change, even necessary change, involves loss, and loss is sad. So if you feel sad today, there鈥檚 no shame in that.鈥
Debbie Gartner, 66, an Immaculate Heart of Mary parishioner since 1980, said the consolidation of parishes is 鈥渉elping us grow in our ministries 鈥 we鈥檝e seen organizations disband because of lack of numbers. There鈥檚 not enough people to go around.鈥
Kelly Cato, 46, teared up as she talked about her grandparents鈥 names on a plaque in the vestibule as charter members of the parish: 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of memories. I still don鈥檛 know why St. Stephen was picked, but we鈥檙e not the ones making the decisions.鈥
Agnes Baca bows her head in prayer during 10 a.m. mass at St. John the Baptist in 51黑料 on Sunday, May 28, 2023. It was announced Saturday night by the Archbishop of 51黑料, Mitchell Rozanski, that the parish will be closed on August 1, 2023.
Still planning an appeal
Confusion about the archdiocese鈥檚 plan extended to rural Ste. Genevieve County, one of the most Catholic parts of the archdiocese.
As of Aug. 1, Sts. Philip and James parish in tiny River aux Vases will no longer exist 鈥 at least on paper. It will be absorbed by Ste. Genevieve Parish in Ste. Genevieve, the county seat.
Yet a priest told the Sts. Philip and James congregation Sunday morning that Masses would continue to be held at the River aux Vases location at 8 a.m. on Sundays to keep the historic church open.
鈥淗e said we are not closing, we are just merging with Ste. Genevieve,鈥 said Lois Naeger, 64. 鈥淓verybody was glad to hear that.鈥
Not far away, St. Agnes parish in Bloomsdale will absorb the former territory of St. Lawrence in Lawrenceton. A priest has been traveling from Bloomsdale to keep St. Lawrence open since the 1960s. That arrangement will end in August, said Pershing Carron.
鈥淲e are going to get the axe,鈥 said Carron, 90, whose family helped establish St. Lawrence. 鈥淪imple as that. We are still going to try to appeal this.鈥
A resilient community
At St. Francis of Assisi in Portage Des Sioux, about 70 weekly churchgoers gathered in the parking lot after Mass trying to figure out what Rozanski meant in his letter when he said the parish would be 鈥渟ubsumed鈥 by St. Charles Borromeo, about a 20-minute drive away.
The rural St. Charles County parish is one of the oldest in the region, founded in 1813 on the banks of the Mississippi River and surviving at least two major floods in its history.
The Rev. Edward Voltz, one of several rotating priests who cover weekly Mass because St. Francis has no full-time clergy, told the attendees he had few answers about what will become of the church building built in 1879. A glossary posted Saturday on the archdiocese website says 鈥渟ubsumed鈥 means 鈥渨hen one parish is united to another parish in such a way that the first parish no longer exists and the second parish remains.鈥
鈥淚f they close this one, I am not going to be able to take it, I don鈥檛 think. It鈥檚 very difficult when they close a parish and you have been a lifelong member of it,鈥 said Elaine Houlihan of St. Charles, after 8 a.m. Mass on Sunday, May 28, 2023, outside St. Francis of Assisi in Portage Des Sioux. Houlihan and her husband joined St. Francis of Assisi after Immaculate Conception in West Alton was closed in 2019.
Lifelong parishioner Kelly Smith said she hopes there will still be some Catholic presence in Portage Des Sioux. Her children are fifth-generation St. Francis members and she鈥檚 poured hours into volunteering and supporting the church that her great-great-grandparents also attended.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 going to happen to the people who rely on the church in this community?鈥 Smith asked, noting that the parish runs the area鈥檚 St. Vincent DePaul charity. For holidays, it hosts a large, free Thanksgiving dinner and sponsors dozens of local families at Christmas. Hundreds attend the annual summer picnic, famous for its tractor pull and fried chicken dinners.
St. Francis has been resilient, said Jerry Schulte, a member of the parish for 70 years. He recalled coming to the property after the Great Flood of 1993 devastated the area. He helped save church pews that had been under about 3 feet of Mississippi River floodwater.
After the flood, the parish鈥檚 grade school closed and the area鈥檚 population plummeted.
鈥淎ll Things New鈥 started in 51黑料 in January 2022, when Rozanski announced the 18-month process that would bring 鈥渢he most sweeping changes鈥 in the 200-year history of the Catholic church in 51黑料 amid declining numbers of Catholics attending Mass and priests to serve them.
The Catholic population in the region has fallen below 500,000 in 2021 for the first time in half a century. Pews have been only one-quarter full on Sundays this year.
More details on the changes 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. At least three of the closed parishes, St. Roch, Blessed Teresa in Ferguson and St. Rose in Florissant have grade schools.
“What does ‘subsumed’ mean? It’s unclear what is happening. All we want is a Sunday Mass. We are not happy about this,” said Dawn Boschert, right, lifelong member of St. Francis of Assisi in Portage Des Sioux. Boschert lives across the street from the church and drives her golf cart to services every Sunday. Others gathered on Sunday, May 28, 2023, were also uncertain about the future of their church. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Parishioners have until June 12 to appeal the changes to Rozanski through canon or church law.
Lifelong St. Francis parishioner Denna Boschert, 59, said she already wrote a letter asking to keep at least some services at the church.
鈥淭he reason we鈥檝e kept this parish alive is the same reason we stay in Portage Des Sioux after the floods,鈥 Boschert said. 鈥漌e鈥檙e faithful.鈥
Erin Heffernan, Josh Renaud and Colleen Schrappen of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
