St. Joseph Church in Joliet waiting on appeal to Vatican for remaining a parish

The pastor is leaving and the parish may be restructured, but St. Joseph Church in Joliet is staying open.

The Rev. Tim Andres, who is leaving as pastor under a restructuring plan announced by the Diocese of Joliet in January, said one of his challenges before leaving is to assure people that the church itself is staying.

“It’s going to stay open,” Andres said during an interview as he prepares to say his last Mass at St. Joseph at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

St. Joseph, as much as any church in Joliet, is a civic institution.

Located downtown at 416 N. Chicago St., the church is built of Joliet limestone with its twin steeples part of the city skyline. It is the heart of Joliet’s significant Slovenian heritage. The church also operates St. Joseph’s Park, which hosts picnics for a variety of Catholic churches and other activities all summer long, along with St. Joseph’s Cemetery.

All that is staying, Andres said.

“It’s going to be the same Mass schedule,” Andres said. “The cemetery and park are staying open. The diocese had no interest in taking it over.”

Andres said most people do not realize how much work it takes to keep the church, park and cemetery operating on a day-to-day basis.

What the Diocese of Joliet likely did end is St. Joseph’s standing as its own parish, but even that has not yet been settled.

The diocese reorganization puts St. Joseph in a new parish with the seat at St. Mary Magdalene Church. The new parish also takes in the congregations of St. Anthony and St. Bernard, both of which are closing.

The pending dissolution of St. Joseph parish itself has been appealed by parishioners, and the Vatican has taken the matter under consideration.

Just how long that takes is not known.

“I was told that it can take years,” said parishioner Mary Petrella, who has been among the leaders in the appeal to keep St. Joseph Church parish intact.

In the meantime, the new parish appears to be in a state of limbo, although it may be business as usual at St. Joseph.

The Rev. John Hornicak, assigned to replace Andres, does not have the title of pastor while the proposed parish is under appeal. Instead, he will be pastoral administrator.

Hornicak will live at the St. Joseph priory, which has been Andres’ residence. The four members of the staff that does the day-to-day work to operate the church, the park and the cemetery all have been rehired by Hornicak and are staying.

“All of the historical documents and baptismal, matrimonial and funeral records are going to stay at St. Joseph’s,” Petrella said. “That is good news.”

What has created uncertainty is the designation of St. Jospeh as a worship center instead of a parish, which is being contested.

“It all goes back to Canon Law,” Petrella said, referring to the sometimes arcane laws that govern operations of the Roman Catholic Church. “That says if you’re just a worship center, which St. Joseph has been designated, you are only guaranteed two Masses a year.”

That led many to assume St. Joseph would be limited to two Masses a year, which is not the case.

In the meantime, the Diocese of Joliet has not been very helpful in clarifying the matter.

The diocese has communicated its restructuring through statements without making any particular person available to comment on the sometimes complex restructuring. Media questions are referred to an email address.

The diocese did not respond Wednesday to an email seeking clarification on how the newly designated parish that takes in St. Joseph will operate until the Vatican determines whether it will stand.