Church

CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Archdiocese of Chicago announced Tuesday new church closings and consolidations.

The update was for the Blue Island, Posen, Robbins and St. Walter Renew My Church grouping. This grouping includes St. Benedict (Blue Island), St. Donatus, St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr (Posen) and St. Walter Parishes and the St. Peter Claver Mission (Robbins).

Effective July 1, St. Benedict, St. Walter, and St. Peter Claver Mission will unite as a new parish, with a new name, one pastor and pastoral team. Regular parish masses will be held only at St. Benedict, which is where the sacramental records are kept. Monsignor Dennis J. Lyle has been designated as pastor of the united parish.

As announced in January, St. Benedict and St. Walter schools will unite for the next school year as one school with two campuses.

St. Walter will continue as a sacred space, but will not have a regular Sunday Mass. The church may be used for school masses, funerals, and other special occasions.

According to St. Walter Church history, when the parish was formed in 1953, the congregation met for masses at a temporary location in Blue Island until the current church was finished being built in 1956. Now, the parish will be back in Blue Island.

St. Peter Claver’s Gospel Mass will be incorporated into the style and schedule of masses at St. Benedict Church and the site will remain available for occasional events.

The local community will discern possibilities for the new name of the parish, within guidelines provided by the archdiocese, and submit three to five options to Cardinal Cupich.

Additionally, St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr will join the St. Christopher and St. Damian grouping to continue discernment to the west. Fr. Pius Eusebius Kokose, pastor of St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr, will receive a new assignment in another parish effective July 1. A priest administrator will be assigned to St. Stanislaus to lead the parish through the continuing discernment.

St. Donatus will remain in its current structure with Fr. Diego Cadavid as its pastor.