mobanmarketJOLIET — In a giant setback for Diocese of Joliet Bishop Ronald Hicks, Roman Catholic Church leaders in Vatican City have rejected Bishop Hicks’ wildly unpopular and controversial plan to tear apart downtown Joliet’s historic and thriving St. Joseph Parish by making the parish to merge into the less viable St. Mary Magdalene Parish and two other dying parishes that recently folded.
Leaders of St. Joseph Parish began notifying fellow parishioners on Wednesday morning that “We received the decision from the Dicastery for the Clergy in Rome today and WE WON our appeal! St. Joseph Parish will remain on its own as a Slovenian personal parish.
“We wanted to let you know as soon as we received the information and we know you will have many questions. We will provide more information in a bit. We did it together! Congratulations to everyone for your hard work! Thank you, thank you, thank you to all!”
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Months ago, Joliet Patch reported that as February draws to a close, St. Joseph’s parish is not counting down the days until their church’s demise. St. Joseph’s parishioners were making history again. The parish was filing its appeal to Washington, D.C., and that appeal will be delivered to Vatican City in Rome.
Prior to the parish’s decision to unite and take their fight to stay alive all the way to Vatican City Rome, Bishop Hicks wrote a two-sentence-long letter to the parish, stating, “I have determined to Reject your request to amend or revoke my decree of 25 January 2024.”
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Maureen Harton, who answers to the bishop as the director of implementation, issued a two-page letter imploring members of St. Joseph’s parish to be obedient to Bishop Hicks and the Diocese of Joliet.
Harton’s letter informs St. Joseph’s parishioners, “Try to look beyond St. Joseph Parish and see the bigger picture. God is leading the Diocese in a new direction, and He is challenging us to work together with our brothers and sisters in Christ to build up his Kingdom here in Joliet. This is not something to lament. This is something to embrace.”
Mary Petrella and Michael Vidmar spearheaded efforts to overturn the Diocese of Joliet’s decision to shut down St. Joseph’s parish and fold it into a new parish along with three smaller struggling east-side parishes: St. Anthony’s, St. Bernard’s and St. Mary Magdalene’s.
St. Mary Magdalene, located along Briggs Street on Joliet’s far east side, was chosen by Bishop Hicks to be the parish seat, even though St. Joseph’s is a much more financially stable and vibrant parish. Overall, the Diocese of Joliet hopes to reduce the number of parishes in the Joliet Deanery from 16 parishes to 7 parishes.
“Let those three parishes merge and let us stand alone,” Petrella reasoned.
St. Joseph Parish has 840 families, and most live on the west side of Joliet and in Shorewood and Crest Hill. In addition, St. Joseph is considered a financially independent and a strong parish; an anchor in downtown Joliet for 133 years. Parishioners stress they have always funded their building renovations and land purchases, rather than rely on funds from the Diocese of Joliet.
During February’s interview, Petrella implored people — regardless of whether they are Catholics or not — “to please pray for us. If you have ever been in our church, you know how it’s beautiful,” she remarked.
“And it’s maintained by dedicated parishioners. “If you have never been inside, you are welcome to come to our Masses and please, be aware, that this could happen to your parish.”
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