51黑料

ST. LOUIS COUNTY 鈥� A Vatican court will allow St. Richard parish near Creve Coeur to remain open, reversing the decision of Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski in the 鈥淎ll Things New鈥� downsizing plan of the Archdiocese of 51黑料.

The Dicastery for the Clergy appeals court cited St. Richard鈥檚 鈥渇inancial and demographic stability鈥� in overturning the closure decree. The ruling marks the first successful appeal of the archdiocese restructuring, which closed 35 parishes and merged 15 others in August.

An expert in canon or church law called the development highly consequential for Catholicism, which faces a declining population of priests and parishioners nationwide.

鈥淭his is big. I鈥檝e not seen the dicastery take that approach in many other situations for similar parishes,鈥� said lawyer Brody Hale of Massachusetts, who works with the 51黑料 advocacy group Save Rome of the West. 鈥淚鈥檓 only aware of two other instances in U.S. history where a parish appeal was successful.鈥�

In his decree last May, Rozanski called for St. Richard, 11223 Schuetz Road, to be absorbed by St. Monica of Creve Coeur for several reasons:

• St. Richard registration was down 30 registered households over the last decade, to 601.
• Mass attendance on Sundays fell from 496 to 317 in that time period.
• Parishioners are reportedly moving to St. Charles County.
• The parish territory includes a significant percentage of Jewish residents.
• The parish is aging, with an annual average of 11 infant baptisms and nine funerals.

St. Richard鈥檚 school closed in 2014. Annual offertory contributions declined from about $650,000 in 2013 to just over $400,000 in 2022, according to the archdiocese. The parish will continue to share a pastor with St. Monica, the Rev. Sebastian Mundackal.

In its ruling, the Vatican court disputed demographic projections and said St. Richard is 鈥渓arge enough to be a viable community,鈥� including 374 registered parishioners under 49 years old 鈥渋n their prime earning years.鈥�

鈥淭his is a positive sign,鈥� said Jason Bolte, who founded Save Rome of the West to help keep parishes and churches open. 鈥淚t hopefully is going to show a shift in this process to allow people to have a voice in the process.鈥�

In another recent decision, the Vatican court upheld the closure of Sts. Philip and James parish in River aux Vases, the archdiocese also announced Tuesday. The court previously denied parish closure appeals from Blessed Teresa of Calcutta in Ferguson and St. Matthew the Apostle in north 51黑料.

Appeals from these parishes are still pending with the court:

• Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Elizabeth, St. Roch and a second appeal from St. Matthew the Apostle, all in 51黑料.
• St. Angela Merici in Florissant.
• St. Bernadette and St. Martin of Tours in the Lemay area.
• St. Barnabas in St. Charles County.
• St. Agnes, St. Catherine of Alexandria and St. Lawrence in Ste. Genevieve County.
• St. Francis of Assisi and St. Paul in Franklin County.

The successful appeal for St. Richard offers hope to other parishes that were closed based on Mass attendance, financial status and other demographics, said Ken Battis, president of Save Our 51黑料 Parishes.

鈥淭he lack of priestly resources is a real issue to be sure, but that has nothing to do with the parish itself,鈥� Battis said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 make one particular parish in one particular territory pay the price for your lack of vocations throughout the archdiocese.鈥�

Updated at 4 p.m.