19 Catholic parishes in west, south suburbs could be closed or merged

Months after the Diocese of Joliet announced the closure of five Catholic churches and two Catholic schools in the Joliet area, the local bishop signaled that another 19 parishes in the west and southwest suburbs and beyond could be on the chopping block, or face mergers.

Bishop Ron Hicks' office said the restructuring was necessary for a variety of reasons, including a lack of priests and "budget issues."

However, church officials wouldn’t discuss if and how the decades-long child sex abuse scandal that has led to millions of dollars in legal payouts, played into their financial challenges.

The diocese website includes a list of more than 70 credibly accused clerics, with the Joliet Diocese once one of the epicenters of the crisis that tore apart the church coast to coast.

Some of the 19 churches could be closed and some could be consolidated as part of a process now getting underway, officials say.

"Parishioners’ connections to their parishes are both spiritual and emotional," Hicks aide Maureen Harton said in a statement.

"However, change is inevitable and necessary to adapt to trends and circumstances that are happening in our diocese, in the United States and in the universal church. As we approach the third phase in this restructuring process, the hope is that by pruning some of the branches, we as a diocese can continue to thrive and grow."

Here are the churches being studied:

• Ascension of Our Lord in Oakbrook Terrace
• Christ the King in Lombard
• St. Alexander in Villa Park
• St. John the Apostle in Villa Park
• Christ the Servant in Woodridge
• St. Luke in Carol Stream
• St. Mark in Wheaton
• Assumption in Coal City
• Immaculate Conception in Braidwood
• Sacred Heart in Kinsman
• St. Boniface in Monee
• St. Lawrence in South Wilmington
• St. Lawrence O’Toole Chapel in Essex
• St. Liborius in Steger
• St. Mary in Park Forest
• St. Mary Mission in Reddick
• St. Patrick (Wilton Center) in Manhattan
• St. Paul the Apostle in Peotone
• St. Rose in Wilmington

A church official who did not want to be named but is familiar with the closure process said they've been "disillusioned" by Hicks' handling of church operations.

"The bishop is cutting deals and those who end up suffering are the people because the bishop isn’t the one who built these churches and neither are the priests, it’s the people," the official said.

In 2023, the diocese began evaluating 16 parishes in and near Joliet, and earlier this year announced that five churches and two elementary schools would close.

Sacred Heart Church, Joliet’s sole historically Black congregation, was among those slated to close its doors.

The Archdiocese of Chicago has closed 26 parishes since 2022 — two of them closed this year.