St. Louis-area Catholic parishes find different paths one year after ‘All Things New’ (2024)

VINITA PARK — While St. Rita is known as the patron saint of lost causes, parishioners at her namesake church here insist they do not fall in that category.

One year ago, St. Rita was among 50 Roman Catholic parishes slated to close or merge through the “All Things New” downsizing of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Since St. Rita was absorbed by Christ the King parish in University City, there are no regular Masses at the church on the corner of Page Avenue and North and South Road. There have been a few funerals, but no weddings or baptisms.

But St. Rita is now bustling in a different way. About 100 families visit the food pantry each week through the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. The archdiocese’s Catholic Charities and the archdiocese’s Office of Racial Harmony are planning a “service and evangelization” hub at St. Rita because of its high-profile location in north St. Louis County with easy highway and bus access, church leaders said. The 35th annual flea market is set for June 8.

“I pray to St. Rita every day that this will continue as it did for our family,” said Betty Hermann, 80, whose nine children were baptized in the church a few blocks from the house she shares with her husband, Pat. The Hermanns, who directed music at St. Rita for 40 years, now attend Mass at four different churches weekly.

On May 27, 2023, Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski announced the most sweeping changes in the archdiocese’s history to address long declining numbers of Catholics and priests. St. Rita is a microcosm of the westward drift of the white and Catholic population in the region. The racial demographics of the parish have essentially flipped to 65% Black and 23% white residents. Only 5% are Catholic, far below the archdiocesan average of 18%. At last count there were a total of 11 Catholic schoolchildren living in the parish, barely more than the Hermann household alone five decades ago.

Over the last year, the number of Catholics has dropped by more than 8% to 444,118 across the archdiocese — which includes St. Louis city and 10 surrounding counties.

But despite their shrinking numbers, the “All Things New” downsizing has generated strife from the faithful including more than a dozen appeals to the Vatican, street protests, school closures and early retirements of priests.

It has also inspired new partnerships and communities.

St. Ferdinand parish in Florissant absorbed St. Sabina in Florissant and St. Martin de Porres in Hazelwood. The combined parish hosts a new Wednesday night service, and Mass attendance overall has doubled. A children’s Bible study canceled during the pandemic was brought back.

In Jefferson County, the parishes Our Lady in Festus, Sacred Heart in Crystal City and Good Shepherd in Hillsboro remain separate but now share a pastor, senior ministry, youth group and Sunday bulletin.

Epiphany of Our Lord and St. James the Greater in St. Louis also share a pastor and a business manager. The parishes have started Covenant Nights, a gathering for dinner on the third Sunday of each month.

“In many areas the dust is just beginning to settle as our pastors (many of them new) are beginning to bring new communities together, foster collaboration between neighboring parishes, and challenge their parishioners to think of new ways in which to effectively evangelize their parish territory,” Rozanski said in an interview over email. “Many have embraced the opportunity to come together, sharing resources and supporting one another in ways that were previously unimaginable.”

Rozanski also acknowledged the difficulty and emotions surrounding parish and school closures and priest reassignments.

“Honoring the grief that comes with change while reminding people that we have a community and a mission that transcends our individual parishes is a delicate balance to find,” he said.

The Rev. Chris Martin, who led the strategic planning for “All Things New,” said some Catholics asked him to wait five years until aging parishioners died off before closing any. Others bristled at possible mergers, saying they had nothing in common with a parish in an adjacent suburb.

The changes of the past year have been difficult and emotional, Martin said, “but the actual mission, of rediscovery of our Gospel mandate to share the Gospel with new ardor, methods and expressions is the most exciting part that is just beginning.”

And not everything in the archdiocese is about downsizing. St. Peter parish in Kirkwood with 2,336 households is planning a $40 million to $50 million expansion including a new rectory and parish hall along with additional classrooms, a new cafeteria and a commons area for the school.

“The proposed expansion of the school is not an anticipation of a larger student population but to meet the needs of the existing size of our student body, which is expected to remain just above 500 over the next five to ten years,” the Rev. Matthew O’Toole wrote in an email Friday to his parishioners.

Outstanding appeals

For several parishes whose fate is still uncertain, “one year later we’re still in a state of turmoil,” said Jason Bolte of advocacy group Save Rome of the West.

So far, three out of nine of Rozanski’s parish closures have been overturned by a Vatican court following appeals from parishioners. St. Angela Merici near Florissant, St. Martin of Tours in Lemay and St. Richard near Creve Coeur will stay open after the court ruled that the closures were illegal under canon or church law.

“It gives us a lot of hope that the Vatican is hearing the side of the laity on these things, giving them merit where merit is due,” Bolte said.

At least seven other parishes still have appeals pending in Italy, including Our Lady of Sorrows and St. Matthew the Apostle in St. Louis; St. Bernadette in St. Louis County; St. Barnabas in St. Charles County; St. Paul in Franklin County; and St. Agnes and St. Lawrence in Ste. Genevieve County.

“Overall, we’re going to see more appeals getting turned over and hopefully things stay in the direction we’re headed,” Bolte said. Save Rome of the West has been working with lawyer Brody Hale of Massachusetts, who said the number of overturned parish closures in St. Louis is the most on record in the U.S.

“All Things New” has not addressed the bigger issues of the priest shortage and declining numbers of active Catholics, said Ken Battis, president of the nonprofit Save Our St. Louis Parishes, which organized dozens of planning sessions for parishioners interested in filing appeals.

“I don’t believe anything they’ve done, not one thing, has made the archdiocese better or has helped any of the problems that they’ve cited,” Battis said. “To be fair to Rozanski, that’s a problem bigger than them, that came long before them. But are we evangelizing, are we a welcoming environment?”

The groups fighting parish closures anticipate the archdiocese could move next to close and sell churches, a more complicated process under canon law.

Leasing the properties is an easier task and has already happened at a handful of closed parishes or schools. Chesterton Academy high school opened last fall in the parish center of the former St. John Bosco near Creve Coeur Lake. Another independent Catholic school, St. Austin, will relocate this year to St. Richard in Creve Coeur.

The first demolition of archdiocese property after “All Things New” could be approved as soon as June 13, when the Maplewood Historic Preservation Commission is expected to vote on plans to turn the former Immaculate Conception school building into 42 senior apartments. The final Mass at Immaculate Conception church was held in February.