All Saints Parish
When the merger of St. Anthony of Padua and St. Joseph parishes in Evansville takes effect on July 1, the new parish will be known as All Saints Parish. Bishop Charles C. Thompson accepted and approved the petition to adopt the new name in a decree he issued on May 15.
“We put 3x5 cards in the pews of our churches, and ask those attending Masses to write two or three names down,” said Father Jay Davidson, parochial administrator of the parishes. “We accepted suggestions over two weekends.”
Father Davidson said a set of potential new names emerged on the basis of the suggestions, and All Saints ultimately was chosen and submitted to Bishop Thompson for approval.
In announcing a number of parish mergers Sept. 2013 and Sept. 2014, Bishop Thompson noted that Canon Law of the Church required the official decree to include a name. With that in mind, those decrees reflected the name of the larger/largest of the merging parishes.
During his series of listening sessions with parishes about the reorganization plan, the bishop noted that parishes could petition that the name of the new parish be changed. That has occurred previously in multiple instances:
The parish formed by the merger of Christ the King and Holy Spirit in Evansville is now Annunciation of the Lord Parish.
The parish formed by the merger of St. Mary and St. John the Apostle in Evansville is now Sts. Mary and John Parish.
The parish that will be formed July 1 by the merger of Mary Help of Christians Parish in Mariah Hill, St. Joseph Parish in Dale and St. Nicholas Parish in Santa Claus will become St. Francis of Assisi Parish.
