ST. LOUIS — Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski, leader of the largest faith group in the region, promises to listen to his Roman Catholic flock and leave room for the Holy Spirit to work before a historic restructuring plan happens, but he’s set a firm deadline: May 28, 2023.
That is when, on Pentecost Sunday, the final reorganization of the St. Louis archdiocese will be announced. Until then, more data will be collected and discussions will be had to figure out how to best sharpen the mission and, likely, change where some people worship and go to school.
“The model that fulfilled its mission in growing and evangelizing the Church during the last century has become archaic,†Rozanski wrote in a letter read to parishioners Sunday. “Jesus is calling on us to re-energize and reshape our efforts to share His saving message.â€
He vowed to assess “every aspect†of the archdiocese and “make the necessary adjustments to our ministries and supporting structures to reflect the needs of our communities†for the next century.
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“We anticipate that these adjustments will be the most sweeping changes that the Archdiocese has witnessed in its history,†Rozanksi wrote.
Once called the “Rome of the West,†the geographic footprint of the Archdiocese of St. Louis now covers 10 counties and the city of St. Louis. The archdiocese currently has 178 parishes served by fewer than 200 full-time priests, a number that continues to fall. Last year, children through age 6 were baptized. Now below 500,000, the shrinking flock has followed migration patterns out of the city, but not the clergy.
Today, St. Joseph of Cottleville in St. Charles County is the largest parish in the archdiocese, with more than 5,000 families. In 2020, six priests at two St. Charles County parishes served nearly the same number of Catholics as 31 priests served at 26 parishes in south St. Louis, according to the . Many city parishes can struggle to fill half the pews in historic buildings.
On Sunday, at in south St. Louis, 25 people gathered between enormous Corinthian columns for the 8 a.m. Mass. The Rev. Sebastian Mundackal, originally from India, told them that he, too, had concerns about the changes ahead.
“Of course, like you, I have my own worries, my own concerns, but let’s be open to the Holy Spirit,†he said, encouraging parishioners to be part of the restructuring process by filling out an upcoming survey of their concerns.
On the way out after Mass, Donna Katke, 70, said she saw the good in the effort, officially touted as “All Things New.â€
“We have to change and evolve to meet the needs of the people in this world,†said Katke, a retired teacher in the St. Louis Public Schools. “We have to do things better. It’s long overdue. They don’t have a choice.â€
The smaller number of Catholic baptisms hits close to home for Katke. Only the oldest of her three grown children is a practicing Catholic. Her middle child is a nonbeliever. The third, even if she had children, says she wouldn’t raise them in the church because of the clergy sex abuse scandal.
“I don’t have the words to fight that,†said Katke, eyes welling with tears.
As for Katke, though, she said: “I am in it for the duration.â€
On the other side of the city, at , about 50 people attended the 10:30 a.m. Mass. ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were socially distanced and wore masks to protect against the spread of COVID-19. The choir wasn’t going, but piano and drum beats helped move them along. Congregants wore coats because the boiler recently went out. The missing part would come in soon, the Rev. Scott Jones told them.
He also told the congregation that the May 28, 2023, deadline to release the restructuring plan would come fast and that he encouraged them to be involved. After that, the implementation phase was set to kick in.
“There will be parishes and schools that will combine, not just here in North City, but in South City, North County, West County and rural areas,†Jones said from the pulpit. “Every parish and institution will be affected somehow.â€
“When those parishes combine,†he added, “they will be entirely new parishes, and they could be that those new parishes will have new names. It is also possible that they may have more than one worship site for Sunday Mass. Here in North City, it may even be that every property will still somehow be used by the North City Catholic community one way or another even though they won’t be individual parishes. There may be other models proposed.â€
Jones read them an additional letter that he said Rozanski wrote for city parishes.
“Let me be clear, there is no preconceived plan,†Rozanski wrote. “Prayerful discernment, honest discussions and listening sessions on how to best use our resources to evangelize the world of today, while looking to tomorrow, will be crucial elements in this process.â€
Jones reminded the congregation that their church was the first that Rozanski visited after he came to St. Louis from the Diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts, in 2020. He said the archbishop cares about what they think about the church in North City.
But congregants at Saints Teresa and Bridget Church are still recovering from a relatively recent merger there at 2401 North Grand Boulevard. Also, in the broader area, Trinity Catholic High School in north St. Louis County closed in 2021, with two of its top feeder elementary schools closing before that — Christ Light of the Nations in Spanish Lake and Most Holy Trinity in the Hyde Park neighborhood in north St. Louis.
“This is tough — the idea that it might go somewhere else,†said Blase Boettcher, 71, a long-time parishioner at Saints Teresa and Bridget. “We’ve done a lot of work to keep it together. We are no different than other parishes, but this is our home. This is our family.â€
Valerie Howard, 71, baptized Catholic just five years ago, said she wasn’t quite sure what to think of the archbishop’s letters read there Sunday.
“I just hope our church remains intact,†she said.
“We want our parish as it is, if possible,†added her friend, Thelma Lewis. “But we have to be realistic as a small parish. That might mean we have to look at something different.â€
The effort mentioned to readdress evangelization caught her ear.
“I hope we put in place to evangelize more African Americans to the Catholic faith,†said Lewis, 79, of the city’s Penrose neighborhood.
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