5 Joliet Catholic Churches Are Closing Forever: Bishop Hicks

JOLIET, IL — After several months of discussions, Diocese of Joliet Catholic Bishop Ronald Hicks announced on Thursday that five churches in and near Joliet will close for good: St. Bernard, St. Anthony, St. Jude, Sacred Heart and St. Anne.

The closings also mean that St. Paul the Apostle School and St. Jude school will close, with a new school reopening on the St. Paul campus to welcome students from both Catholic schools.

"As we all are aware, many things have changed in the last 50 to 60 years. We have significantly less vocations to the priesthood, our active priests are aging, and our beautiful churches that were built with labors of love and much financial sacrifice are in need of significant repairs, largely due to prolonged deferred maintenance," Bishop Hicks announced in Thursday's press release.

"In addition, the Church today is not the same Church it was decades ago. The trend against organized religion is gaining momentum. Attendance at Sunday Masses is down significantly, and Sunday collections are down proportionately. Reducing the number of parishes will enable us to redirect our limited financial resources to ministry, instead of staffing expenses such as payroll and benefits, and putting temporary and costly band-aids on aging buildings."

According to the Diocese press release, Thursday's decision will reduce the number of parishes in the Joliet Deanery from 16 parishes to 7 parishes.

The seven parishes are:

1. Our Lady of Mount Carmel;

2. Cathedral of St. Raymond;

3. St. John the Baptist (until the Franciscans no longer staff the parish, at which time it will be amalgamated into the Cathedral of St. Raymond and a decision will be made whether St. John the Baptist Church remains open as a worship site);

4. St. Mary Nativity with Holy Cross as a mission/oratory serving the Polish community;

5. St. Ambrose (Crest Hill);

6. New parish (Merger of St. Anthony, St. Bernard, St. Joseph Joliet, St. Mary Magdalene) with St. Joseph and St. Mary Magdalene as worship sites, St. Mary Magdalene being the parish church;

7. New parish (Merger of St. Paul the Apostle, St. Jude, St. Patrick and Sacred Heart) with St. Paul and St. Patrick as worship sites, St. Paul being the parish church, and St. Joseph (Rockdale) as a mission/oratory of the new parish.

Five churches will be closed: St. Bernard, St. Anthony, St. Jude, Sacred Heart and St. Anne, the Bishop emphasized.

Catholic Schools Consolidate

According to Hicks, the parish decisions "inevitably affect St. Paul the Apostle School and St. Jude School," and both schools will close at the end of the 2023-2024 school year.

However, a new school will reopen at the St. Paul the Apostle school campus for the 2024-2025 school year to "welcome students from both St. Paul and St. Jude Schools," according to Hicks.

"The new school will serve as a model for surrounding schools with added programming and outstanding academics steeped in Catholic teachings," Hicks said. "In the coming days you will learn of working sessions, informational meetings, and a timeline of transitional items for the school communities of St. Paul and St. Jude."

Unrelated to the restructuring, St. Matthew School in Glendale Heights will also close in June. Hicks cited loss of enrollment over the past five years, and "a large annual deficit and substantial loss of funds due to the sunset of the Illinois Tax Credit Scholarship."

The Cathedral of St. Raymond of Nonnatus School and St. Mary Nativity School will remain.

"As missionary disciples, we should all desire a Church that is thriving, growing and following the Gospel. In other words, everything we do as a Church needs to be about the salvation of souls. Most Catholics want to see a Church that is focused on the mission of Jesus Christ and not on the preservation of our buildings.

"At the end of the day, I do not want us to be viewed as a diocese that buried its head in the sand or kicked the can down the road. Instead, with deep faith in God, we are pruning some of the structural branches, so that our Church can continue to produce great fruit."