'Renew My Church' Changes Touch Oak Lawn Catholic Parishes

OAK LAWN, IL — St. Louis de Montfort in Oak Lawn is slated to wind down its ministry at the end of June and will permanently close. The parish elementary school closed in 2017. The closure comes as the Archdiocese of Chicago seeks to regroup and consolidate parishes under the Renew My Church plan.

St. Linus Catholic Church in Oak Lawn and Our Lady of the Ridge in Chicago Ridge will also unite another Renew My Church grouping that includes parishes in Palos Hills and Hickory Hills.

Except for St. Gerald Church that opened in 1934 (the parish school opened in 1929), Oak Lawn's other parishes were built during the 1950s and 1960s in response to the post-World War II baby boom. All are engrained in the village's DNA.

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The latest round of changes come in the midst of a pandemic, when churches across the state were ordered closed by the governor last year affecting the weekly collection plate. Many parishes were also forced to cancel bingo, carnivals and festivals, which counted on such endeavors for a significant amount of their annual operating funds.

Parishioners at St. Albert the Great in Burbank, St. Fabian of Bridgeview and St. Gerald in Oak Lawn learned of the new grouping last week during a virtual community meeting hosted by the Archdiocese.

The three parishes in Burbank, Bridgeview and Oak Lawn will remain in their current structure, including pastors, archdiocesan officials said in a news release. Operations at the current grammar parish schools — St. Gerald and St. Albert the Great — will continue.

The three parishes will equally divide the remaining financial assets of St. Louis de Montfort. St. Gerald has been tapped to manage the St. Louis de Montfort campus and will lead the process for deciding its future. St. Louis de Montfort is being encouraged to wind down its ministry with a regularly scheduled Mass to take place June 30.

St. Linus Church in Oak Lawn is being included in a grouping with Our Lady of the Ridge in Chicago Ridge, St. Patricia in Hickory Hills and Sacred Heart Parish in Palos Hills. Parishioners there also learned of the new grouping at the virtual meeting.

St. Patricia and Sacred Heart will each remain in their current structures. Effective July 1, Our Lady of the Ridge and St. Linus will unite as a new parish with a new name, continuing to use both churches for Mass. As one parish, the two communities will have one pastor and one pastoral team.

“Until Cardinal [Blase] Cupich decides on a permanent name for the new parish, the new parish will have an interim name – Our Lady of the Ridge and St. Linus Parish. St. Linus School will be the united parish’s school. The school will retain its name,” archdiocesan officials said.

The regular Mass schedule will continue at both worship sites, but may be subject to change after July 1.

Parishioners said they were told by the archdiocese not to talk to news media about the virtual meeting or the changes coming to their respective churches. Representing the Archdiocese at last week's virtual meeting was Fr. Jason Mulave, the cardinal's liaison for Renew My Church, along with the parishes' respective pastors. A St. Albert the Great parishioner said that people were muted during the meeting and only allowed to type in questions to a moderator.

“How do these parishes even have a chance when there’s COVID,” she said. “I don’t think a pandemic is the time to do this.”