Letters represent 44 parishes; the archbishop will respond to all
Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski has received nearly 800 letters representing 44 parishes with feedback related to parish changes as part of the All Things New strategic pastoral planning initiative.
“Some letters praised my decisions, some expressed concerns about specific parts of my decisions, some expressed gratitude for the ministry of their priests and disappointment their priest was being assigned elsewhere, and others asked that I revoke or alter my decision,” the archbishop said in a statement.
Archbishop Rozanski and the staff of the archdiocesan Metropolitan Tribunal have reviewed the letters, and the archbishop said he will respond to each one, with responses to be mailed beginning July 3.
Individual parishioners who claim to have been aggrieved by a decree regarding a parish had the right to seek the decree’s revocation or emendation. (A decree is a singular administrative act issued by a diocesan bishop and is required to alter a parish or take other actions as prescribed by canon law.) Those requests were to have been made in writing and postmarked to the archbishop by June 12.
If an individual parishioner receives a response from Archbishop Rozanski with which they disagree, they may pursue recourse in writing within 15 business days from receipt of the letter the archbishop has sent to them. Those letters should be sent to the Most Reverend Archbishop of Saint Louis, Cardinal Rigali Center, 20 Archbishop May Drive, Saint Louis, Missouri 63119; they will be forwarded to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Clergy.
The Archdiocese of St. Louis will be reshaped from 178 parishes into 135, the archbishop announced May 27. Thirty-five parishes will be subsumed, or merged, into neighboring parishes. Additionally, 15 parishes will be merged to create five new parishes. A new personal parish for the Spanish-speaking community in St. Charles County, named St. Juan Diego, also will be established. These parishes will be overseen by nearly 90 diocesan pastors and 17 pastors from religious orders.
The new structure will be implemented beginning Aug. 1.
