Archbishop Tobin announces sweeping changes for parishes in Batesville Deanery
Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin addresses Catholics in the Batesville Deanery during a June 6 press conference at St. Louis Church in Batesville. (Photo by Sean Gallagher)
By Sean Gallagher
BATESVILLE—Speaking on June 6 at St. Louis Church in Batesville before some 300 Catholics from across southeastern Indiana, Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin announced a series of sweeping decisions that will affect 26 of the 27 parishes in the Batesville Deanery, plus three more faith communities in two other deaneries.
Resulting from his decisions regarding the Batesville Deanery, 12 parishes will close. One of those parishes, Holy Guardian Angels in Cedar Grove, is in the Connersville Deanery. All of the closures will be effective on Dec. 1, 2013. (See a summary of the changes as well as the official decrees)
The decisions were the result of a two-year involvement of the Batesville Deanery’s pastoral leaders and representatives of its lay members in the Connected in the Spirit planning process.
Archbishop Tobin said the goal of the process was to help parishes “discern where God is leading the Church in central and southern Indiana, and to discuss how the Archdiocese of Indianapolis should change its structures in order to carry out its mission today and in the future.” (Related: Read a statement from Archbishop Tobin)
While some parishes will close, other parishes will be linked together in such a way that they will share a priest, other staff members and create joint programs, ministries and committees.
Finally, some parishes will create a partnership. While they will retain their own pastor or sacramental minister, they will collaborate in implementing shared programs and other staff members.
The creation of linked parishes and parish partnerships will also be effective on Dec. 1.
St. Joseph Parish in Shelbyville and St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Shelby County will be linked faith communities, sharing a priest and working to combine as many programs and ministries as possible.
Holy Guardian Angels Parish will close and be merged with St. Michael Parish in Brookville, which will then become part of the Batesville Deanery, having previously been in the Connersville Deanery.
At the same time, St. Michael Parish will enter into a partnership with St. Peter Parish in Franklin County.
St. Anne Parish in Hamburg and St. Mary-of-the-Rock Parish in Franklin County will close, and be merged with Holy Family Parish in Oldenburg.
St. John the Baptist Parish in Dover, St. Joseph Parish in St. Leon, St. Martin Parish in Yorkville and St. Paul Parish in New Alsace will close and merge together to form one new parish.
For the first year after the closure, the churches of all four previous parishes will remain open. Starting on the first Sunday of Advent in 2014, the new parish will reduce this number to two churches. And by the first Sunday of Advent in 2015, the new parish will have one church.
The archdiocese will work with the new parish to study the possibility of constructing a new church.
St. Denis Parish in Jennings County will close and merge with Immaculate Conception Parish in Millhousen.
St. Mary Magdalene Parish in New Marion will close and merge with Prince of Peace Parish in Madison in the Seymour Deanery.
St. Pius Parish in Ripley County will close and merge with St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Milan. At the same time, St. Charles Parish will form a partnership with St. Mary Parish in Aurora in which the two faith communities will create joint programs and share staff and services.
St. Nicholas Parish in Ripley County and St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Morris will become linked and thus share a pastor, staff members and work to combine programs, ministries and committees.
These two parishes will also enter into a partnership with St. Louis Parish in Batesville.
St. John the Evangelist Parish in Enochsburg and St. Maurice Parish in Decatur County will both close and become a new parish to be established in northern Decatur County. At the same time, they will enter into a partnership with St. Mary Parish in Greensburg.
The new parish will continue to worship in the churches of the two closed parishes. This arrangement will be subject to periodic review.
Although 12 parishes will close, there will be a net loss of 10 parishes since two parishes will be established, archdiocesan officials said. (Related: Batesville Deanery Catholics reflect on decision to close parishes)
There are 1,551 households in the 11 Batesville Deanery parishes slated for closure. That represents 16 percent of the total number of households registered in parishes in the Batesville Deanery.
Recommendations regarding the Batesville Deanery parishes that came out of the Connected in the Spirit process had been made before Archbishop Tobin was appointed to lead the Church in central and southern Indiana last fall.
However, Archbishop Tobin said during the June 6 meeting in Batesville that he waited to act on the recommendations so that he could talk about them with Catholics in the Batesville Deanery and other archdiocesan leaders.
“This consultation has convinced me that the process used to arrive at the decisions I am about to announce has been a sincere attempt to discern the will of God by proceeding from the base of each parish to the leadership of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis,” Archbishop Tobin said. “The process was not an arbitrary movement from the top down. And, while I still have much to learn about the Catholic Church in central and southern Indiana, I am confident that the decisions we are making will contribute to its growth and health.”
(To read all of Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin’s remarks at the June 6 meeting at St. Louis Church in Batesville, including the decisions he made regarding the parishes of the Batesville Deanery, log on to www.archindy.org/archbishop.) †
