Sixty-one Catholic parishes in Allegheny and Washington counties will merge into one of 15 newly created parishes, Bishop David Zubik said Wednesday.
The mergers — which don’t yet call for any church building closures — advance a years-long restructuring effort by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh to make the most of dwindling resources and respond to mounting financial woes, with more than half of parishes losing money. The changes take effect on July 1.
Zubik told parishioners the shift will enable “more effective ministry by addressing financial needs, sharing resources and allowing your clergy to focus on the spiritual work for which they were ordained.”
In the Alle-Kiski Valley, six parishes will merge into the new Guardian Angels parish: St. Alphonsus in Springdale, Holy Family in Creighton, Holy Martyrs in Tarentum, Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Harrison and Our Lady of Victory in Harwick.
The new Holy Family parish will be made up of St. Irenaeus in Oakmont, St. Janurarius and St. John the Baptist in Plum, St. Joseph in Verona and Our Lady of Joy in Holiday Park.
In the North Hills, St. Aiden and St. Alphonsus near the Wexford business district will join together under the name St. Aiden.
Some of the merged parishes ultimately may face the possible closure of a church buildings or related facility. Other merged parishes might merely share financial support, administration and leaders, with some already relying on roving priests. The priests and staff of the merged entities have been working together in recent years as part of groupings established prior to this week through the diocese’s “On Mission” initiative.
The latest mergers shrink the diocese’s parishes across a six-county region to half the number that existed just five years ago. With the 15 new parishes, the total now stands at 106 — compared to 152 earlier this year and 200 in 2015.
The diocese spans Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Greene, Lawrence and Washington counties. It had 170 parishes when officials announced in mid-December that 26 parishes would merge into eight.
There are no immediate plans to close church buildings related to recent merger announcements, diocesan officials said.
For the full list of the merged parishes and other changes, go to DioPitt.org.
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