Local

See which parishes are slated to be merged by the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown

By Staff report

January 22, 2024 3:47 PM

The Most Reverend David J. Bonnar, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, has approved a new stage in the diocese’s pastoral planning process for merging its parishes.

The decision, which was announced in a news release over the weekend, comes after the bishop’s ongoing consultation with the Diocesan Presbyteral Council (constituted by priests), during the Jan. 12, 2024 meeting.

The Diocesan Pastoral Plan was promulgated by the late Bishop George Murry in 2019 and has continued to be developed since the 2021 installation of Bishop Bonnar.

The regional plan for the six-county diocese, that includes all of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, has resulted in structural changes aimed at developing effective ministries and supporting missionary activity, the news release states.

Criteria include the number of parishioners and worshipers, parish finances, population shifts within the region, effective use of buildings and effective use of a limited number of priests and lay ecclesial ministers.

As a result, almost all of the diocese’s 80 parishes (or churches) are now part of a collaborative unit or exist as a multi-site parish.

At its Jan. 12 meeting, the Diocesan Presbyteral Council formally recommended that Bishop Bonnar merge the following parishes:

Mahoning County

● Austintown, Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish and St. Joseph Parish

● Boardman, St. Charles Parish and St. Luke Parish

● Youngstown, St. Columba Cathedral Parish, St. Edward Parish and Holy Apostles Parish

Trumbull County

● Niles, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish and St. Stephen Parish

● Warren, Blessed Sacrament Parish, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish and St. Mary and St. Joseph Parish

Ashtabula County

● Orwell, St. Mary Parish, and Rock Creek, Sacred Heart Parish

Portage County

Mogadore, St. Joseph Parish, and Rootstown, St. Peter of the Fields Parish

Stark County

● Canton, St. Peter Parish, and the Basilica of St. John the Baptist

● Canton, St. Joan of Arc Parish and St. Joseph Parish

These parishes are already working together in ministry partnerships—sharing priests, deacons, diocesan pastoral associates, additional personnel, Mass schedules, and various parish programs and activities.

“I am grateful to the Presbyteral Council for making this important recommendation, which will help ease the burden of pastors who currently need to oversee the administration of separate entities and attend multiple sets of meetings, including parish pastoral councils, finance councils, and parish staff. The time is right for these particular parishes to come together and form one community. We are better when we are together,” Bishop Bonnar stated in the news release.