SHREWSBURY — A Vatican council will hear the appeals of two closed Catholic parishes in the region while rejecting two others, the Archdiocese of ºüÀêÊÓƵ said Monday.
The Dicastery for the Clergy agreed to review Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski’s decision to close St. Elizabeth, Mother of John the Baptist parish in north ºüÀêÊÓƵ and Sts. Philip and James Parish in River aux Vases.
Vatican appeals were denied from Blessed Teresa of Calcutta in Ferguson and St. Matthew the Apostle in north ºüÀêÊÓƵ, both closed in the “All Things New†downsizing process that Rozanski announced in May, which cut the number of parishes from 178 to 135. Blessed Teresa parish was absorbed by Sacred Heart in Florissant.
Rozanski initially denied all appeals from the closed or merged parishes. Under canon or church law, parishioners could send a secondary appeal to the Vatican council for consideration.
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“This is an anticipated part of the All Things New pastoral planning process,†Rozanski said in a statement Monday. “Over the next several months, we expect to receive additional Dicastery communications regarding other petitions that were submitted.â€
St. Elizabeth and St. Matthew were merged into a single parish with Our Lady of the Holy Cross and St. Augustine in north ºüÀêÊÓƵ as part of the restructuring. St. Elizabeth is a primarily African American parish with 300 households. The church is the former St. Engelbert built in 1927 on Shreve Avenue just south of Interstate 70.
Sts. Philip and James, with 80 households in rural Ste. Genevieve County, was absorbed by Ste. Genevieve parish. The three-bedroom, two-bath rectory at Sts. Philip and James was recently rented out to a non-parishioner for $800 a month. Mass is still celebrated at 8 a.m. on Sundays in the church founded in 1840.
The grade school ºüÀêÊÓƵ Catholic Academy of 180 students is housed at St. Elizabeth but operated and funded by the archdiocese. Blessed Teresa also has a grade school, with 153 students in kindergarten through eighth grade last year. Decisions on school closures or consolidations across the archdiocese are expected in early December.
The Dicastery for Clergy also rejected appeals of priest assignments at several parishes: Annunziata Parish in Ladue and Ste. Genevieve du Bois in Warson Woods; Holy Family Parish, Port Hudson; Holy Rosary in Warrenton and St. Mary’s in Hawk Point, which share a pastor; St. Ann Parish, Clover Bottom; St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Charles County; and St. Gertrude Parish, Krakow.
Other appeals from closed parishes that are still pending at the Vatican include Our Lady of Sorrows, south ºüÀêÊÓƵ; St. Angela Merici, Florissant; St. Barnabas, O’Fallon; St. Bernadette, Lemay; St. Catherine of Alexandria, Coffman; St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Luebbering; St. John Paul II, Affton; St. Martin of Tours, Lemay; St. Paul, Berger; St. Richard, Creve Coeur; and St. Roch, ºüÀêÊÓƵ.