ST. LOUIS 鈥 The closure of St. Bernadette Catholic parish in Lemay has been approved by a Vatican court, according to the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
The Dicastery for the Clergy upheld Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski鈥檚 decision in May 2023 to close the parish in the 鈥淎ll Things New鈥 downsizing plan for the archdiocese. The reorganization amid declining numbers of Catholics and priests resulted in the closures or mergers of 50 of 178 parishes across St. Louis city and 10 surrounding counties in eastern Missouri.
Under the reorganization, St. Mark parish absorbed St. Bernadette along with St. Andrew and St. Matthias, all in Lemay.
Members of more than a dozen of the affected parishes filed appeals with the Vatican court, which has been gradually releasing its decisions.
The court has also rejected an appeal from St. Agnes parish to prevent its subsuming of St. Lawrence parish, both in Ste. Genevieve County. An appeal against the closure of St. Lawrence is the only remaining case from the archdiocese still pending with the dicastery.
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The court previously upheld Rozanski鈥檚 decrees to close eight other parishes including Blessed Teresa of Calcutta in Ferguson; St. Barnabas in O鈥橣allon; St. Catherine of Alexandria in Ste. Genevieve County; St. Francis of Assisi and St. Paul in Franklin County; and Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Matthew the Apostle and St. Roch in St. Louis.
The court overturned Rozanski鈥檚 decisions to close three parishes: St. Angela Merici near Florissant, St. Martin of Tours in Lemay and St. Richard in Creve Coeur, allowing them to remain open.
Three closed parishes 鈥 St. Barnabas, St. Paul and St. Roch 鈥 have appealed the lower court鈥檚 decision to the Vatican supreme court in a final attempt to keep the parishes open.
Some of the parishioners received help with their appeals from the group Save Rome of the West based in St. Charles County, which has expanded its efforts to prevent parish closures to other cities including Joliet, Illinois.
The Vatican court this month from January to close St. Joseph parish in the Diocese of Joliet. St. Joseph will remain open as a Slovenian personal parish instead of merging with three other parishes.