BishopAccountability.org
	Two Area Parishes Being Merged By Howard Dukes South Bend Tribune October 15, 2008 http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081014/News01/810140324/0/BIZ Sacred Heart, St. Jude become St. Catherine of Siena. SOUTH BEND — The decision to merge Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. Jude parishes was a difficult one that was driven by a desire to relieve the stress on priests, according to the Most Rev. John M. D'Arcy, bishop of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. The decision to merge the two parishes, D'Arcy said, was guided by a concern that some priests might be spread too thin. "Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), before he became pope, said that the church has to be able to provide the Eucharist for all believers, but that the church might not be able to do that in every hamlet," D'Arcy said in a phone interview Monday. D'Arcy believes members of both congregations will be better served by the merger. He does not want to create megachurches, D'Arcy said, but he believes bishops have an obligation to make sure priests are more equitably distributed. St. Jude Parish, 19704 Johnson Road, has about 700 registered families, while Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, 63568 U.S. 31 S., has about 200, according to Monday's press release. The Rev. John Delaney, pastor of the Lakeville-based Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish and of South Bend's St. Jude Parish, conducts two Sunday Masses and a Saturday service at each church, D'Arcy said. That will not change in the short term, the bishop said, and St. Jude Catholic School in South Bend will remain open. The long-term goal is to build a new church for the merged congregations. One possible site is in Lakeville, where the diocese owns about 80 acres. Another possibility is South Bend. That decision has not been made, D'Arcy said. The merger, which was announced on Sunday, will go into effect on Nov. 1 (the Feast of all Saints), D'Arcy said. The new parish is already being called by its new name, St. Catherine of Siena Parish, after its patroness. D'Arcy said several names were considered before St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) was chosen. "I wanted (the parish) to be named after a woman," D'Arcy said. He noted that 2008 is the 20th anniversary of the Apostolic Letter written by Pope John Paul II on the dignity and vocation of women in the church. D'Arcy called St. Catherine of Siena, who lived in Italy in the 14th century, "a saint for our age." St. Catherine of Siena devoted her life to working to bring peace to Italy, D'Arcy said. She also offered aid and comfort to victims of the bubonic plague, which devastated Europe and Asia during that time.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.