Diocese shifting 4 parishes in Norwalk area

5/8/2004

Four parishes in the Norwalk area of the Toledo Catholic Diocese will be reconfi gured as two twinned parishes effective July 1, Bishop Leonard P. Blair announced this week.

St. Anthony Parish in Milan and St. Mary, Mother of the Redeemer, in

Norwalk will be paired together, as will St. Joseph Parish in Monroeville and St. Alphonsus Parish in Peru.

The Rev. Ken Lill will be pastor of St. Joseph and St. Alphonsus and the Rev. Nelson Beaver will be pastor of St. Mary and St. Anthony, the bishop said. St. Alphonsus and St. Mary had been paired

together as a twinned parish for more than 30 years.

The realignment was necessitated by the retirement of the Rev. James Walsh, pastor of St. Anthony, and because of a shortage of priests both in the 19-county diocese and throughout the country, the

bishop said.

Among the advantages of new alignment, according to Bishop Blair, is that each set of parishes will be about the same size; each will have the services of a deacon; both groups will have one parish with extensive experience as a twinned parish, and travel time will be

more equitable for clergy.