Catholic Diocese Of Pittsburgh To Create Eight New, Merged Parishes On January 6

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announced on Saturday that on January 6, 2020, eight groups of parishes will merge.

Twenty-six parishes will be in this merger.

The eight new parishes are as follows:

• Archangel Gabriel: This will serve Kennedy, McKees Rocks, and Robinson. It will merge Holy Trinity, Saint John of God, and Saint Malachy.
• Christ the Divine Shepherd: This will serve Monroeville and Penn Hills. It will merge Saint Bartholomew, Saint Bernadette, Saint Gerard Majella, North American Martyrs, and Saint Susanna.
• Corpus Christi: This will serve Bridgeville and Cecil. It will merge Saint Barbara, Holy Child, and Saint Mary.
• Divine Mercy: This will serve City Center and the Hill District. It will merge Saint Benedict the Moor, Epiphany, and Saint Mary of Mercy.
• Divine Redeemer: This will serve Aleppo and Sewickley. It will merge Saint James and Saint Mary.
• Mary, Mother of God: This will serve McKeesport, North Versailles, Versailles, and White Oak. It will merge Saint Angela Merici, Corpus Christi, Saint Patrick, and Saint Robert Bellarmine.
• Saint Andrew the Apostle: This will serve Charleroi, Donora, and Monogahela. It will merge Damien of Molokai, Mary, Mother of the Church, and Our Lady of the Valley.
• Saint Mary Magdalene: This will serve the East End, Point Breeze, and Wilkinsburg. It will merge Saint Bede, Saint Charles Lwanga, and Saint James.

According to the Diocese, no buildings are scheduled to close and the decision regarding which of the buildings will be used to house the new parishes is going to be made after consultation with the people of the parishes.

"This is a pivotal time for our diocese as we plan for the future of the Church of Pittsburgh," Bishop David Zubik wrote in a statement. "Southwestern Pennsylvania is radically different than it was 100, 50, 20, even 10 years ago, yet the work of the church and our call from God to bring his love to everyone continues as strong as ever."

Parishioners at Saint Susanna in Penn Hills said the announcement was made at services today and while it was disappointing, it was not surprising.

"It's sad, we've been here for many, many years and I personally think this will the one that's going to close because there's very few people coming now," said Dolores Ollio, a Saint Susanna parishioner.

The merger comes after the Diocese spoke with all the parishes involved and meetings across all 329 parishes in the diocese as of 2017.

This will bring the number of parishes in the Diocese from 170 to 152.