As more parishes in suburban Chicago anticipate mergers later this month, the archdiocese aims to keep spirits up through its “Renew My Church” initiative, which has been ongoing since 2014 and aims to redistribute resources amid a growing shortage of priests, Chicago Tribune reported January 4.
The Archdiocese of Chicago has 291 parishes, but will have only 200 priests in nine years, said Fr. Dennis O’Neill of St. Martha in Morton Grove, one of the parishes that may have to merge. When Renew My Church began six years ago, there were 360 parishes in the archdiocese.
