ST. LOUIS — The closure of Our Lady of Sorrows parish has been suspended until the conclusion of its appeal to the Vatican.
The south ºüÀêÊÓƵ parish closed and merged with St. Joan of Arc and St. Mary Magdalen on Aug. 1 to form a new parish as part of the “All Things New†downsizing plan from the Archdiocese of ºüÀêÊÓƵ that cut the number of parishes from 178 to 135.
In a decree dated Aug. 8, Bishop Mark Rivituso wrote that the finances and records of Our Lady of Sorrows will not be affected until a parishioner appeal is addressed by a Vatican council. That process can take several weeks to several months, according to the archdiocese.
Once the largest parish in ºüÀêÊÓƵ, Our Lady of Sorrows dropped by nearly 300 registered households in the last decade and holds about $350,000 in debt, archdiocese records show.
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Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski initially denied all appeals from the 50 closed or merged parishes announced in May. In the denials, Rozanski gave instructions for mailing a secondary appeal that he would forward to the Dicastery for the Clergy in Rome. Rozanski returns Sunday from a pilgrimage to Poland and the Czech Republic, according to an archdiocese spokeswoman.
Rozanski on July 31 suspended the closures of seven other parishes pending the results of Vatican appeals:
• St. Angela Merici in Florissant.
• St. Catherine of Alexandria in Coffman.
• St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Luebbering.
• St. Martin of Tours in Lemay.
• St. Matthew the Apostle in ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
• St. Richard in Creve Coeur.
• St. Roch in ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
The closures of at least seven other parishes known to have sent their appeals directly to the Vatican have not been suspended, including:
• Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.
• St. Barnabas in O’Fallon, Missouri.
• St. Bernadette in Lemay.
• St. Elizabeth Mother of John the Baptist in ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
• St. John Paul II in Affton.
• St. Paul in Berger.
• Sts. Philip and James in River aux Vases.