CONGREGATIOPRO CLERICIS

Vatican City. 22 November, 201 6

Prot. N. 20163753

Mr Richard Olszewski et al.6210 W.63'd PlaceChicago, Illinois 60638UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Dear Mr. Olszewski et al.,

I have studied the hierarchical recourse you submitted against the May 23'd and May 24tt'decrees of His Eminence, Blase Cardinal Cupich, which indicated the extinctive union of St.Adalbert Parish, in the Pilsen neighbourhood of Chicago, and the reduction of the Church toprofane but not unbecoming use. Herewith pleased find enclosed the canonical response of theCongregation.

This Congregation recognizes the right of the bishop to erect, suppress or alter parishesin order to better provide for the faithful in his diocese. As stated by Blessed Pope Paul VI inthe Motu Proprio, Ecclesiae Sanctae: "Every effort is to be made that parishes, in whichapostolic activity can be performed only with difficulty or less effectively because of theexcessive number of the faithful or too vast a territory or for any other reason, be suitablydivided... Likewise parishes which are too small should be united insofar as the situationdemands it and circumstances permit."

While the decisions of a bishop regarding diocesan structures will always be open tocriticism, sometimes difficult choices must be made for the good of the entire diocese given thelimited nature of the resources available to local parishes. The Church recognizes your right tomake your spiritual needs known to the pastors of the Church. With regard to these spiritualneeds, I ask that you work in a spirit of cooperation with your local Ordinary to build up theBody of Christ in the Archdiocese of Chicago.

With assurances of prayers and best wishes, I remain,

Sincerely yours in Christ,

+ {.Lt nt."l r,,x Jo€l Mercier

Titular Archbishop of RotaSecretary

(Enclosure.)

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DECREE

Prot. N. 20163153

1. Whereas His Eminence, Blase Cardinal Cupich, concerned about challenging pastoral

situations and expenditures in the Archdiocese of Chicago, consulted with local pastors

and faithful regarding how best to serve Catholics in the Pilsen neighborhood of the City

of Chicago, which has many ethnic personal parishes and several important churches,

vestiges of late i 9th and earLy 2Oth century Catholicism in that neighborhood;

2. Whereas these consultations reflected that which had been found in previous consultations

for several years under Cardinal Cupich's predecessor, carried out ad hoc arrd offrcially as

the Pilsen Planning Committee;

3. Whereas demographically, this neighborhood lost 20Yo of its population in the last 15

years, with an influx of Spanish speaking parishioners and decrease in the population of all

other groups;

4. Whereas in recent decades the Archdiocese of Chicago has subsidized and underwritten

projects necessary for the survival of Pilsen parishes and has forgiven funds owed to the

Archdiocese, an expression of great pastoral solicitude which is not foreseen or required by

Canon I-aw. but was found to be expedient by the Archdiocese on those occasions;

5. Whereas the pastors and parish representatives indicated that a merger of the parishes

would be of assistance in meeting the current challenges which face them, allowing them

to consolidate services and better serve an increasing number of Catholics;

6. Whereas it was determined that St. Adalbert and St. Paul Churches both had historical

significance, but that the latter had undergone an extensive renovation within the last

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decade and could thus serve better as seat of the new parish, while the former is in great

need ofeven basic repairs;

Whereas the Most Eminent Archbishop consulted the Presbyteral Council regarding the

proposed extinctive union and reduction to profane use of St. Adalbert on 8 March and 10

May last;

Whereas His Eminence Blase Cardinal Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago , on 23 May, 2016,

issued a decree ordering the extinctive union of St. Adalbert into the parish of St. Paul,

both Churches remaining open, but followed this subsequently by his decree of 24 May,

reducing the Church of St. Adalbert to profane but not unbecoming use;

Whereas the merger decree furnishes ad rem motivations, including the great debt of the

parish to the Archdiocese and a bleak financial future, the aforementioned demographic

changes, the perilous state of repair of the Church, and also indicates the consent of the

then pastor;

Whereas these general motivations have been further clarified through the acts and the

votum of the Ordinary, clearly providing the required just causes for such a merger;

Whereas parishioners Richard Olszewski et al., informed of the Archbishop's disposition

in the matter, wrote to ask that he reconsider the matter of the extinctive union of the

parish and reduction of the Church, His Eminence indicating a negative response by his

letter of 13 June, 2016;

Whereas these parishioners wrote to take hierarchical recourse against these dispositions.

by letter to the Congregation for the Clergy of 30 June, 2016;

Whereas His Eminence has since revoked his decree of 24May,2016, now indicating his

intention not to reduce to the Church to profane use;

Whereas, the recurrents' object of recourse having been fulfilled with regarding to Canon

1222 52, and thus no longer under consideration in this recourse;

This same Congregation for the Clergy, having examined both the petition for recourse and

the acts presented to the Congregation, notes that according to the norm of law, a parish is

a juridic person which by its very nature is perpetual. Furthermore, it is for the Diocesan

Bishop alone to alter a parish substantially, after having heard the opinions of the members

of the Presbyteral Council.

Regarding the extinctive union of St. Adalbert Parish, a just cause must be evident for the

issuance of a decree substantially altering a parish, or as, in this case, extinguishing a

16.

personal parish through union with another. This cause can arise either from elements

internal to the parish itself, or from elements external to the parish but affecting the parish

,onetheless. or from a combination thereof. From the Eminent Archbishop's Decree and

the acts of the case, it is clear that such external and internal factors concretely affected

negatively the parish of St. Adalbert, and so were of relevance for consideration when

deliberating regarding the alteration of the parish according to the norm of c' 515 $2'

Therefore, this DicasterY decrees:

with regard to the extinctive union (c. 515 $2) of the Parish of St.

Adalbert, chicago, Illinois, this recourse as presented is denied, de

procedenclo uni ,1, decernendo, insofar as the necessary just

motivations for the decision are provided by the Ordinary'

Recourse against this Decree may be made before the Supreme

Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura within the peremptory time limits

established in the Apostolic Letter motu proprio Antiqua Ordinatione,

Art.34 $1.

Given at the Seat of theCongregation for the ClergYTuesday, 22 November 2016

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/ Beniamino Cardinal StellaPrefect

* tr tt- flo."L-tx Joel Mercier

Titular Archbishop of RotaSecretarY

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