Archdiocese consolidating parishes

ST. LOUIS -- The Archdiocese of St. Louis has announced plans to reduce the number of parishes in north St. Louis County from 25 to 10 and close four of its schools in the area.

The plan, adopted by Archbishop Raymond Burke, reduces the number of schools to nine from 13, the archdiocese said Friday. The plan also calls for keeping one church, Our Lady of Guadalupe, as a specialty parish that will celebrate some Masses in Spanish.

Burke said Friday that he had studied recommendations from planning groups involved in the cuts and had met with many members of the affected parishes.

"I say to them, I understand the pain you are experiencing," Burke said. "I wish I didn't ever have to unify parishes or close parishes, but we have to look to the good of the whole church."

Consolidations are scheduled to be completed in 2006. Affected schools will close at the end of this school year.

The archdiocese has been weighing parish and school consolidations for months, largely in south St. Louis and north St. Louis County, often citing costs of needed repairs or population declines in those areas.

The archdiocese launched the study because population shifts to newer suburbs have pared the number of Catholics in the targeted areas by roughly half since 1970.

The archdiocese also has been trying to plan for staffing its parishes with the steadily shrinking number of priests.

The issue has been contentious. When details of an original closure plans were announced last fall, congregations of many threatened parishes asked church officials to reconsider. Planners agreed to rework some of the plans.

The archdiocese probably would release its final plan for consolidation in south St. Louis later this month, said Jamie Allman, spokesman for the archdiocese.

Florissant Mayor Robert Lowery, one of a group of officials who met with archdiocesan leaders in November, said he supported "the overall plan."

"I know that some had to close," Lowery said. "But I believe [Burke] has made a real commitment to us."

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On the Net

Archdiocese of St. Louis: www.archstl.org