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Sweeping changes announced Saturday by Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski will reduce the number of parishes in the St. Louis Archdiocese to 134 from 178.
The complicated plan includes 35 parish closures, 15 parishes merging into five new parishes, as well as increased sharing of priests between parishes, among other changes.
It’s a lot for the faithful to take in. Use this interactive to see how individual parishes will be affected by the archbishop’s decisions.
The reconfigurations will take effect beginning in August.
Under canon law, parishioners can appeal the decisions by writing to the archbishop, but the written appeals must be postmarked no later than June 12.
Here are some important terms and the archdiocese’s definitions:
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“Amalgamated” or “subsumed”: When a parish is united to another parish in such a way that the first parish no longer exists and the second parish remains.
“Merged”: A parish that has been subsumed into another parish with the latter parish remaining, or two or more parishes that have been united in such a way that a new parish is established from them.
“Personal parish”: A parish established to serve a group of the faithful determined by reason of the rite, language or nationality.
“Suppressed”: When a personal parish is altered in such a way that it no longer exists; its church remains a sacred edifice open to the faithful.
“Territorial parish”: A parish which includes all the Christian faithful of a certain territory.