The Catholic Diocese of Peoria will reduce its number of parishes to less than half of its previous number, including merging several in the Quad-Cities area. The Diocese of Peoria launched a pastoral planning process two years ago called "Growing Disciples." Over two years it evaluated the effectiveness of parishes by gathering feedback and examining financial, demographic and sacramental data.
In an interview with the Dispatch-Argus/Quad-City Times, Bishop Louis Tylka said the idea came from listening sessions he held with priests and parish leaders in 2020 and 2021. “It was clearly stated by both the priests and the lay leaders that we have to address the reality of today, which is those situations where we have not enough resources, not enough priests, not enough people in our parishes to maintain the structure of 156 parishes," Tylka said. St.
Mary of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Rock Island, Illinois on May 23, 2024. The church will not be seeing changes under a plan to reduce the number of parishes in the Diocese of Peoria. The number of parishes in the diocese will change from 156 parishes to 75 parishes with 129 worship sites.
Some parishes will see no change, while others may be merging with one or more parishes or have their pastor or vicar shuffled around. The number of available priests was a significant factor in the decision, Tylka said, citing the number of priests in the diocese nearing retirement age, the length of time it takes to become a.
