New Parishes And Deaneries

St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Spencer County and All Saints Parish in Evansville will come to life July 1 as part of the parish reorganization plan in the Diocese of Evansville. Also July 1, four new deaneries come to life in the diocese.

Bishop Charles C. Thompson announced the merger of three Spencer County parishes in September 2013 during the first round of parish reorganizations. St. Joseph Parish in Dale, Mary Help of Christians Parish in Mariah Hill and St. Nicholas Parish in Santa Claus will merge, effective this July 1.

Throughout the reorganization process, Bishop Thompson noted that merging parishes could request a change in the name of the new parish. Because Canon Law of the Church dictates that formal decrees announcing mergers include the name of the newly created parish, diocesan decrees announcing mergers over the past two years generally have been issued in the name of the largest of the merging parishes. In this case, the new parish was set to become St. Joseph Parish with three worship sites: St. Joseph Church, Mary Help of Christians Church and St. Nicholas Church.

Parishioners indicated their desire to have a new name to Pastor Father John Brosmer. He sought input from all three parishes, then submitted a name-change request to the bishop. Bishop Thompson approved the request that St. Francis of Assisi be the name of the new parish.

In Evansville, St. Anthony of Padua Parish and St. Joseph Parish (a.k.a St. Joseph in the city) will merge July 1 and become All Saints Parish. Pastoral Administrator Father Jay Davidson facilitated the process of determining a new name, as The Message reported in its May 29, 2015, issue. All Saints will have two worship sites: St. Anthony of Padua Church and St. Joseph Church. Bishop Thompson announced this merger in September 2014.

At that time, he also announced the creation of Sts. Mary and John Parish and Holy Trinity Oratory in Evansville, which took effect on April 27. Holy Trinity Parish merged with the existing Sts. Mary and John Parish, whose boundaries expanded to include the area formerly served by Holy Trinity.

In its May 8, 2015, issue, The Message also reported that Bishop Thompson issued a decree on March 31 that realigns the diocesan deaneries, decreasing them from seven to four, effective July 1. The new alignment includes North, South, East and West deaneries for the diocese’s 54 parishes.

Parish links also occur July 1

The following parish links become effective July 1:

• Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Petersburg and Blessed Sacrament Parish in Oakland City will link.

• St. Joseph Parish in Princeton and St. Bernard Parish in Snake Run will link.

• Holy Cross Parish in Fort Branch, St. James Parish in Haubstadt and Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Haubstadt will link.