By Michelle Martin
Staff Writer

Assumption BVM/St. Catherine of Genoa Parish will be the first of four South Side parishes to close its doors this spring when it holds its final Mass April 7.

Three other parishes, St. Gelasius, St. Laurence and St. Leo the Great, all are slated to close June 30.

The closings are intended to strengthen the overall viability of South Side black Catholic parishes, by closing those whose small or decreasing congregations cannot meet current or future expenses, according to a statement released by the archdiocese’s Office of Communications. The closures will bring the number of parishes in the archdiocese to 374.

Assumption BVM/St. Catherine of Genoa, at 640 W. 118th St., created by the consolidation of two parishes 12 years ago, serves the smallest congregation in the archdiocese, said Father Edward D. Gleeson, pastor. The parish will close in April to save money and because some parishioners have begun drifting away since the closing was anticipated more than three months ago.

The closings of two more schools also were announced March 13. St. Denis, 8301 S. St. Louis Ave., and St. James, 22410 Torrence Ave. in Sauk Village, join 14 archdiocesan schools whose closings were announced in January as part of a plan to keep schools in all areas of the archdiocese viable.

Auxiliary Bishop Joseph N. Perry, episcopal vicar for the area where the four closing parishes are located, recommended the closures after consulting with members of parishes throughout his vicariate and with task force members from the Black Catholic Convocation, a group that gathered first in November 2000 to discuss ways of revitalizing the archdiocese’s black Catholic community.

In many ways, the involvement of the convocation seems to have helped, said Father David Jones, pastor of St. Ambrose Parish and a member of the convocation’s implementation team.

“People seem to have responded well,” Jones said, although he acknowledged that the reaction had varied from parish to parish. “I don’t hear people saying, ‘Look what they’re doing to us.’”

Part of that reaction comes from the convocation’s focus on a church vision that’s wider than the parish community, said Joan Neal, who worked on the parish task force.

“We’re trying to get people focused on a revitalized, vibrant black Catholic community,” Neal said. “The parish is not the church. We really are one church.”

To that end, members of the closing churches will be welcomed at nearby parishes. The new members will strengthen the welcoming parishes, Neal said. Members of her task force are working on a resource book with ideas for both closing and welcoming rituals.

Assumption BVM/St. Catherine parishioners wrote their own closing liturgy, Gleeson said, saying the one suggested by the Black Catholic Convocation team seemed too much like a requiem Mass.

But Assumption BVM/St. Catherine parishioners visited five nearby parishes on successive Sundays, Gleeson said. About a third of them have committed to move together to St. Helena of the Cross, which is about 18 blocks, or a 10-minute drive, away. Gleeson expects more of his parishioners to join them when the parish actually closes.

St. Helena has already scheduled a welcoming Mass for April 14, the Sunday after Assumption BVM/St. Catherine closes.

Many parishioners at St. Laurence, 7140 S. Dorchester Ave., will be welcomed at St. Philip Neri, which is pastored by Father Lawrence Duris, who previously spent 14 years as pastor at St. Laurence.

St. Laurence, St. Philip Neri and Our Lady of Peace already work together on several activities, said Father Gerald O’Reilly, pastor of St. Laurence, and St. Philip Neri leaders have already agreed to postpone their pastoral council elections from the spring to September to allow new parishioners from St Laurence to be involved.

Parishioners at both the St. Laurence and Assumption BVM have known of the likelihood of the closings since November, even though the archdiocesan Presbyteral Council did not formally vote on them until Jan. 30.

The decision sparked protests from St. Laurence parishioners who picketed and prayed outside Holy Name Cathedral, O’Reilly said, especially since his parish had just started the “Sharing Christ’s Gifts” Millennium Campaign and had more than $100,000 in pledges.

But all four parishes have received financial assistance from the archdiocese over the years and all have substantial debts. They serve fewer than 250 people at Mass each weekend in older church buildings that were designed to serve huge congregations and now are in dire need of repair.

St. Leo the Great Parish, 7747 S. Emerald Ave., has the highest debt of the four parishes, at $1.17 million. St. Gelasius Parish, 6415 S. Woodlawn Ave., has the smallest, $35,340, but still suffers from the effects of a 1975 fire with no interior ceiling and a leaking roof.

St. Gelasius School’s closing was announced in January; the school hopes to raise $100,000 for a school transition scholarship fund to help its students move to St. Philip Neri School. None of the other three parishes now has a school.

Many Assumption BVM/St. Catherine of Genoa parishioners understand the need to close, said Gleeson who knew he might have to close the parish when he arrived 3? years ago.

“They look around and say, logically speaking, this can’t go on forever,” Gleeson said. “But a lot of people don’t use that logic.”

Even so, something valuable will be lost, he said. With only 84 families—many of them single women—parishioners formed tight bonds and enjoyed a kind of personal attention from their pastors that just isn’t possible in a larger parish.

“When I’m saying Mass, I’ll know who’s missing just by looking out and seeing who’s not sitting where they usually do,” he said. “And if somebody’s not there, there’s concern. …They see whole generations of families grow up in the pew next to them. That’s not going to happen any more in urban parishes.”



In its editions between now and June 30, The Catholic New World will provide additional profiles of the parishes scheduled to close by then: St. Gelasius, St. Laurence and St. Leo the Great.

Many parishioners at St. Laurence, 7140 S. Dorchester Ave., will be welcomed at St. Philip Neri, which is pastored by Father Lawrence Duris, former pastor at St. Laurence.

St. Laurence, St. Philip Neri and Our Lady of Peace already work together on several activities, said Father Gerald O’Reilly, pastor of St. Laurence, and St. Philip Neri leaders have already agreed to postpone their pastoral council elections from the spring to September to allow new parishioners from St. Laurence to be involved.

Parishioners at both St. Laurence and Assumption BVM have known of the likelihood of the closings since November, even though the archdiocesan Presbyteral Council did not formally vote on them until Jan. 30.

All four parishes have received financial assistance from the archdiocese over the years and all have substantial debts. They each serve fewer than 250 people at Mass each weekend in older church buildings that were designed to serve huge congregations and now are in dire need of repair.

St. Leo the Great Parish, 7747 S. Emerald Ave., has the highest debt of the four parishes, at $1.17 million. St. Gelasius Parish, 6415 S. Woodlawn Ave., has the smallest, $35,340, but still suffers from the effects of a 1975 fire with no interior ceiling and a leaking roof.

St. Gelasius School’s closing was announced in January; the school hopes to raise $100,000 for a school transition scholarship fund to help its students move to St. Philip Neri School. None of the other three parishes now has a school.

Many Assumption BVM/St. Catherine of Genoa parishioners understand the need to close, said Gleeson who knew he might have to close the parish when he arrived 3&Mac222; years ago.

“They look around and say, logically speaking, this can’t go on forever,” Gleeson said. “But a lot of people don’t use that logic.”

Even so, something valuable will be lost, he said. With only 84 families—many of them single women—parishioners formed tight bonds and enjoyed personal attention not possible in a larger parish.

“When I’m saying Mass, I’ll know who’s missing just by looking out and seeing who’s not sitting where they usually do,” he said. “And if somebody’s not there, there’s concern.”