St. Roch in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood of 51黑料.聽
ST. LOUIS 鈥 At least one parish in the Archdiocese of 51黑料 will appeal its pending closure to the Vatican after receiving a rejection from Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski.
St. Roch in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood of 51黑料 will be absorbed by Christ the King parish in University City on Aug. 1, under the 鈥淎ll Things New鈥 downsizing plan Rozanski announced in May.
Under the plan, 50 out of 178 parishes will be closed or merged.
Parishioners in the affected parishes could appeal the decisions by June 12, and then Rozanski had 30 days to respond. St. Roch parishioners said they have received rejections of their appeals from Rozanski this week.
Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski speaks to reporters during a press conference at the Cardinal Rigali Center in Shrewsbury to discuss the details of the 鈥淎ll Things New鈥 plan laying out parish reorganization and priest reassignments in the Archdiocese of 51黑料 on Saturday, May 27, 2023.聽
The archdiocese does not plan to release details on specific parish appeals, a spokeswoman said.
鈥淧arishes are dear to the hearts of parishioners, and it鈥檚 important to hear from any who believe their parish was unfairly treated in the process. Some letters that have been received praised the Archbishop鈥檚 overall decision, some letters expressed concerns about specific parts of the Archbishop鈥檚 decision, some letters expressed disappointment their priest was being transferred, and others asked that the Archbishop revoke or alter his decision,鈥 reads a statement from the Very Rev. Philip Ben茅, judicial vicar for the archdiocese.
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Parishioners now have 15 days from receiving Rozanski鈥檚 rejection to again send their appeals to the archbishop, who will forward them to a Vatican council for review, Ben茅 said.
Mike Stephens, St. Roch parish council president, has said they plan to take their appeals to the higher authorities.
According to the archbishop鈥檚 decree to close St. Roch, the parish had accrued an operating deficit of $1 million over the past five years.
The decree is misleading because the parish invested $925,000 on heating and air conditioning systems and other improvements in the last five years, said Bridget O鈥橣lynn, president of the St. Roch finance committee, in an appeal letter to Rozanski.
鈥淪t. Roch paid for these improvements when due, and did not incur debt to do so,鈥 O鈥橣lynn wrote.
