Under canon — or church — law, appeals of any structural changes to parishes go first to Rozanski, who announced last month a major downsizing of the Archdiocese of St. Louis called “All Things New.” If Rozanski ignores or rejects the appeals in the next month, parishioners can take their case to the Vatican within 15 days, or the archbishop’s decision is final.

How many appeals will be submitted to the archbishop is unclear. The archdiocese previously said it would provide no updates on the number of appeals or where they originated “while the process is ongoing.” All registered Catholics in the affected parishes are eligible to send appeal letters that must be postmarked by Monday, June 12.

Some Catholics who have pushed back against the “All Things New” process said they were surprised by the final plan. The scope of the parish closures was “dramatically different from what we expected,” said Ken Battis of Save Our St. Louis Parishes.

Recent draft models of the restructuring indicated most parishes would join “pastorates” — groups of two or three that would share a pastor and other ministry roles.

“I fully expected there might not be any (closure) decrees, just this pastorate model where people are fighting it out for survival,” Battis said.

But Rozanski did issue more than 80 decrees on Pentecost Sunday — one for each of the parishes to be closed plus those that will absorb their territories by Aug. 1.

The Rev. Joe Weber, pastor of St. John Bosco near Creve Coeur Lake, said he was surprised that the parish will be absorbed by St. Monica, about 4 miles away at Olive Boulevard and Interstate 270, along with St. Richard in Creve Coeur to form a mega-parish of more than 2,000 households.

Previous proposals showed the three parishes in a pastorate group, keeping their separate identities.

“Things didn’t go the way we wanted them to go, did they?” Weber wrote in the June 4 St. John Bosco bulletin. “I am still stunned that the entire concept of ‘pastorates’ was dismissed, and never discussed with the priests, prior to the promulgation of the All Things New results last weekend. I haven’t met with Father Sebastian, the new pastor of Saint Monica Parish, of which we will be a part on August 1. Yes I have been assigned Senior Associate Pastor of the ‘new’ parish, but I will continue to live in the Saint John Bosco Rectory.”

The Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood of St. Louis has rallied to save St. Roch parish, which will be absorbed by Christ the King in University City. They say much of the parish’s decline cited by Rozanski in his closure decree can be attributed to the loss of strength of pastor Monsignor Sal Polizzi, who died in April at age 92. St. Roch is down to two Masses a week, celebrated by visiting priests, compared to eight at Christ the King.

“Skinker-DeBaliviere is a vibrant and growing urban residential neighborhood that embraces the diversity of people, housing types, transit, and public spaces. Our neighborhood vibrancy and diversity results from decades of residential and institutional advocacy, including from St. Roch,” wrote 10th Ward Alderwoman Shameem Clark-Hubbard in her appeal letter to Rozanski. “A parish must be present in the community to impact it.”

Some parishes launched preemptive campaigns last year to remain unchanged, such as St. Cecilia in St. Louis and St. Gianna in Wentzville, which were successful. Of the 40-plus parishes known to have sent petitions prior to Rozanski’s announcement, only three face closure — St. Barnabas of O’Fallon, Missouri; St. Paul in Franklin County and St. Martin of Tours in Lemay.

The Rev. Noah Waldman of St. Martin of Tours said he felt “very bitter and unhappy and depressed” before talking to the Rev. Robert Burkemper, who will become pastor of St. Mark after it absorbs St. Martin along with St. Andrew, St. Bernadette and St. Matthias, all in the Lemay area. Waldman was reassigned to serve two parishes in Franklin County.

Burkemper plans to celebrate Mass at St. Martin at least every Sunday and do all he can to “preserve and continue” its legacy, Waldman wrote in a message to the parish.

“In addition to being a kind and wonderful human being and Christian, let us also be aware that Fr. Burkemper is also a son of St. Martin of Tours, having been baptized here, having graduated from our school, and having also said his very first Mass here some forty years ago,” Waldman said. “Indeed, St. Martin’s is his home, too. He loves this parish just as much as so many of you who grew up here, learned your Catholic faith here, received your sacraments here, and buried loved ones from here.”

A review of Catholic church bulletins from June 4 shows several other pastors were also surprised by the changes, which also included 155 priest reassignments.

“Last weekend was certainly a difficult and emotional weekend,” wrote the Rev. Edward Nemeth of Sts. Philip and James in River aux Vases in Ste. Genevieve County. “I did not expect it to go in that direction.”

“While the parish of Sts. Philip and James may not exist on paper, it exists in the hearts of the good people who have built it,” Nemeth continued. “No decree can take that away from you.”

The Rev. Bill Kempf of St. Justin Martyr in south St. Louis County said he “was kind of hoping that (the parish) would be my ‘forever home.’” Kempf was reassigned to Sacred Heart in Florissant where he will also have “a few more job duties, at least in the short term” involving two other closed parishes, St. Rose Philippine Duchesne in Florissant and Blessed Teresa in Ferguson, along with their schools. Decisions on parish school closures are expected in the fall.

Others in closing parishes seem resigned to the outcome. A member of All Saints in University City is promoting the church’s last Mass on July 30. In Florissant, parishioners will hold a “Celebrating St. Sabina” dinner after the 5 p.m. Mass on July 29.

In his weekly letter, the Rev. Scott Jones said the parishioners of Sts. Teresa and Bridget in north St. Louis reacted to the news of their merger with “hope, compassion, and a willingness to make the best of whatever happens. There was a sense of joy even if we know that some of the final decisions won’t be easy.”

Jones, who was promoted to episcopal vicar for the northern region of the archdiocese, said Sts. Teresa and Bridget is in a state of limbo, with lingering questions about when and where Mass will be held and whether their food pantry will stay open.

The new parish name is also undetermined, but will temporarily be called Most Holy Trinity, St. Nicholas and Sts. Teresa and Bridget parish.

“Try fitting that on a coffee mug!” Jones wrote in his letter.

Jones said he agreed with Rozanski’s decision because “it is clear that our parish is not financially sustainable long-term without the merger.”

There are also signs that some merged parishes have already started to build their new communities.

St. Ann in Normandy, which will absorb Our Lady of the Presentation in Overland, hosted a meeting for the combined parishioners on Tuesday. The Rev. Nick Winker answered pre-written questions “to keep a constructive spirit in what may be a time of mourning,” as he wrote in the St. Ann bulletin.

Winker, who was reassigned to two parishes in Franklin County, reminded St. Ann faithful that their parish in 2008 absorbed Ascension-St. Paul, itself the result of a previous merger of Ascension in Northwoods and St. Paul in Pine Lawn.

“At the beginning of this process, I asked us to consider what in our parish life is portable, and what is tied to our building,” Winker wrote. “Our parish building is staying open as the parish church, but it is important for us to be welcoming, to embrace what is portable in the other community.”