A pastorate Town Hall will be held on Sunday, September 20th at 12:30pm at st. Elizabeth of Hungary to discuss the proposal to merge St. Brigid, St. Casimir and St. Elizabeth into one parish This proposal flows out of our pastorate plan and was discussed initially at two listening sessions in October and November 2019.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the merger were mailed to parishioners in June and can be found below.
If you would like to offer comments on the proposal, please consider either attending the Town Hall or mailing written comments prior to September 20 to:
Bishop Denis Madden
Archdiocese of Baltimore
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
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Frequently Asked Questions About the Proposed Merger of St. Casimir, St. Brigid and St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parishes
WHAT IS A PARISH MERGER?
A merger is when two or more parishes come together as a single parish. This is done when the Archbishop
approves of this merger at the request of the pastor. After completion of specific processes, this action
legally establishes the single parish by issuing a canonical decree and updating the parish civil law
corporation to reflect the merger. In this case, the three parishes of St. Casimir, St. Brigid and St. Elizabeth
of Hungary would become one parish.
WHY IS THE PARISH MERGER BEING PROPOSED?
Over the last several years, the leadership of all three parishes have been considering how best to bring the
Good News of Jesus Christ to people in our pastorate while also strengthening the faith of our current
parishioners. They agreed that, in order to do this well, it is important for the pastorate to be a community
unified in worship, welcome, and evangelizing spirit. Our pastorate plan contains a number of ideas for how
we can begin moving in this direction. One of these is to explore a merger as a way to combine and leverage
the gifts and resources each parish has, directing them throughout the whole pastorate in order to have the
greatest evangelizing impact.
WILL THE NAME OF THE PARISH CHANGE? IF YES, WHAT WILL THE NEW NAME BE?
Yes, St. Brigid Parish and St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish will be merged into St. Casimir Parish. After the
merger, the parish will be known only as St. Casimir Parish. We will designate the two worship sites
(campus locations) in the parish as St. Casimir/Canton-Patterson Park. We will also make sure that Sts.
Brigid and Elizabeth are prominent in the parish by side shrines in St. Casimir’s church and/or possibly
renaming buildings.
WILL ST. ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY CHURCH BE CLOSED AS A RESULT OF THE MERGER?
No.
WILL THERE STILL BE MASSES AT ST. CASIMIR AND ST. ELIZABETH’S CHURCHES?
Yes.
WILL MASS TIMES CHANGE AFTER THE MERGER?
Possibly.
WILL OUR PASTORAL COUNCIL OR FINANCE COUNCIL CHANGE?
Since becoming a pastorate, the Pastoral Councils of the three parishes have already been combined into
one Pastorate Council. The same is true of the Pastorate Finance Council.
WILL THERE BE ANY CHANGES IN OUR CHILDREN’S CATHOLIC FORMATION PROGRAM?
No. This will continue to be offered to all the parishes’ children, hosted at St. Casimir.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE ASSETS (MONEY AND BUILDINGS) AND LIABILITIES (DEBTS) OF EACH
PARISH AFTER THE MERGER?
After the merger St. Casimir parish will be the owner of all the assets and all the liabilities currently held by
all three parishes. The weekly collection from both St. Casimir and St. Elizabeth of Hungary will support one
parish with their two campus locations.
DO I HAVE TO CHANGE HOW I DONATE TO THE PARISH?
The on-line giving and envelope process currently used by St. Casimir will be used for both.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ST. BRIGID’S CHURCH AFTER THE MERGER?
The Pastorate Council is still discerning what is best for the Pastorate as far as St. Brigid Church and
Rectory. While the fate of the buildings has not yet been finalized, one decision was made that the church
will not be used in the future as a worship site.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE DEDICATED FUNDS IN THE CATHOLIC FAMILY FOUNDATION AFTER THE
MERGER?
Currently there are only funds in this foundation from St. Casimir. These funds would stay with the merged
parish.
WILL PARISHIONERS BE ABLE TO ASK QUESTIONS AND/OR PROVIDE INPUT ABOUT THIS PROPOSAL
BEFORE IT IS FINALIZED?
Yes. All parishioners are given the following options: 1) attend a public meeting regarding the proposal which
will be held at St. Casimir Church, 2) provide comments in writing to the parish office, 3) participate in a
Zoom Meeting or 4)participate in a Conference Call, dates and times to be determined.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE INPUT THAT IS RECEIVED ABOUT THE PROPOSAL?
The pastorate leadership of St. Casimir, St. Elizabeth of Hungary and St. Brigid parishes will meet to discuss
any suggestions or concerns that are brought forward at the public meetings regarding the proposal to
merge the parishes. The leadership may determine that other decisions need to be made after hearing the
parishioners. This information will also be reviewed by Bishop Madden and Archbishop Lori before any final
decision is made to merge the parishes.