June 9, 2017

Archdiocesan administrator issues decree on former Indianapolis parish

Criterion staff report

Msgr. William F. Stumpf, archdiocesan administrator, has decreed that the property that belonged to the former St. Bernadette Parish in Indianapolis be sold. In the terminology of the Church’s Code of Canon Law, this is referred to as “relegation to profane but not sordid use.”

This decision, which is in keeping with the limited authority of Msgr. Stumpf’s position as archdiocesan administrator, was made after he consulted with the archdiocesan College of Consultors and Finance Council.

It is also tied to the May 21, 2014, decree of Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, then archbishop of Indianapolis, to merge St. Bernadette with the nearby Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. This decree was made effective on Nov. 30, 2014.

As noted in Msgr. Stumpf’s decree published in this week’s issue of The Criterion, the decision to sell the St. Bernadette property was spurred by the fact that the building is in disrepair, is not currently used by Our Lady of Lourdes, and the significant financial burden to the Lourdes community of effecting necessary repairs to it.

The archdiocesan Intercultural Institute, which was established at St. Bernadette in July 2015, has moved to St. Andrew the Apostle Parish in Indianapolis. It is a center for formation of Catholics of various ethnic groups in central and southern Indiana.
 

Read the decree here

Local site Links: