Sweeping changes announced Saturday by Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski will reduce the number of parishes in the 51黑料 Archdiocese to 135 from 178.聽
The complicated plan includes 34 parish closures, one mission closure, and 15 parishes merging into five new parishes, as well as increased sharing of priests between parishes, among other changes.聽
It鈥檚 a lot for the faithful to take in. Use this interactive to see how individual parishes will be affected by the archbishop鈥檚 decisions.
The reconfigurations will take effect beginning in August.聽
Under canon law, parishioners can appeal the decisions by writing to the archbishop, but the written appeals must be postmarked no later than June 12.
Here are some important terms and the archdiocese鈥檚 definitions:
People are also reading…
鈥Amalgamated鈥 or 鈥subsumed鈥: When a parish is united to another parish in such a way that the first parish no longer exists and the second parish remains.
鈥Merged鈥: A parish that has been subsumed into another parish with the latter parish remaining, or two or more parishes that have been united in such a way that a new parish is established from them.
鈥Personal parish鈥: A parish established to serve a group of the faithful determined by reason of the rite, language or nationality.
鈥Suppressed鈥: When a personal parish is altered in such a way that it no longer exists; its church remains a sacred edifice open to the faithful.
鈥Territorial parish鈥: A parish which includes all the Christian faithful of a certain territory.
Updated Wednesday (May 31, 2023) to clarify that one of the closings affects a mission, not a parish.
