CV NEWS FEED // The Vatican has rejected requests for additional pastors from three parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
St. Gertrude Parish, St. Anne Parish, and Holy Family Parish requested to have separate pastors in response to the Archdiocese’s “All Things New” initiative. Since the initiative began on August 1, the three parishes have shared the same pastor, Rev. James A. Holbrook.
However, the Dicastery for the Clergy declined to review the case.
The “All Things New” initiative is the Archdiocese’ restructuring plan, which consolidates 178 parishes into 134. According to the plan, 35 parishes were subsumed into neighboring parishes, while 15 others were merged into five new parishes.
The Vatican has agreed to review the petitions of two other St. Louis parishes that do not wish to be subsumed into neighboring parishes. Petitions such as these are filed by a “recurrent,” an advocate who is usually a parishioner.
“In accepting a petition for hierarchical recourse, the Dicastery for the Clergy does not reverse the archbishop’s decision but agrees to review the decision at the request of the recurrent,” said Archbishop Mitchell Rocanski’s office in a statement.
According to a local news report, the Archdiocese is also “working through meetings and assessments of its Catholic grade schools,” in order to determine which will remain open.
The archdiocese is expected to make a decision regarding school closures by early December.
The Archdiocese of St. Louis declined requests for comment.
