Months have passed since we began in October of 2022. The Naming Team, from the larger Unification Committee, that was formed by Fr. Benedykt, started to meet regularly as we began the process of discerning the new name for our newly-united parish.
Initially, we were given criteria from the Archdiocese that made it clear that Queen of Martyrs – St. Bernadette would need a new name. Temporarily, the united parish would be called Queen of Martyrs – St. Bernadette. Once we receive a new name from the Cardinal, those two titles would be retired, per the Archdiocesan criteria, and the parish would be called the new name.
So, we began with a mission in October to investigate possible saint names for our newly-united parish. It wasn’t easy! We had to know our history of saints, and we decided to be fair to both communities by agreeing that the future saint had to have had a devotion to Mary considering their present names and/or be a martyr, but devotion to Mary was primary!
As a result, we began with 27 saint names that met the criteria. As we went along, we agreed that we would rather have a modern-day saint (1875-present) that our parishioners could relate to, rather than one from centuries old. That reduced the number from 27 to 12 names. From the 12 names, we dropped to 8 names. Fr. Benedykt then made an observation that we should first send the 8 names to the Archdiocese to see if they would meet their criteria. Five of them did, but they rejected three.
The guidelines of the Archdiocese were that we could not choose a name that an existing parish or shrine already had. So, they rejected St. Frances Xavier Cabrini – there is an existing shrine on the north side of the city near Lincoln Park. They rejected St. Maximilian Kolbe because there is a shrine in Mundelein, IL. They rejected St. Brigid of Ireland because Wadsworth, IL took her name to replace St. Patrick when they merged with Our Lady of Humility in Beach Park, IL. So, that left us with 5 names that were accepted: St. Dominic Savio, St. Gianna Molla, St. Gemma Galgani, St. Joseph Moscati, and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein).
After analyzing additional saint names suggested by parishioners, we accepted St. Benedict Joseph Labre and St. Winifred of Wales. We were told by the Archdiocese that they were strongly encouraging us not to use the title Our Lady of because there were too many with various titles. We attempted to request Our Lady of Lourdes, but it was rejected four times because there is already a parish with that name in the Archdiocese. That left us with 7 names, which we presented to the parish over the course of February, March, and April.
We appreciate all the feedback we have received over the months and the over 400 people who helped inform our team about what they felt about the candidates via their online or written responses. While this was not a vote, it did provide an opportunity to see which names parishioners preferred. We spent a considerable amount of time calculating the responses, analyzing the data, reaching out to analytical experts to check our understanding of the data, and having clear conversations about how this new parish name will represent both church cultures. We want to ensure the names we present to the Cardinal are ones that, regardless of the final selection by his Eminence, speak to our two faith communities collectively.
When we examined the data we created the groupings of Highly Preferred, Preferred, and Least Preferred. These categories helped us to see whom the parish community had the most confidence in bringing our churches together as well as for us to see which candidate parishioners felt did not afford the best link between the two. The Naming Team would also like to reiterate that Queen of Martyrs School will not have their name changed. Fr. Benedykt will now present our four Highly Preferred choices, pictured below, to the Presbyteral Council in mid-May with the intention of these choices then being finalized to one by Cardinal Cupich in the very near future.
All in all, it has been a long process, but most worthwhile. Change is hard but necessary and this change will bring great opportunities for our two churches to work collectively, grow in our spirituality, and create a new shared future for Catholics here in our unique Chicago and Evergreen Park enclave. We do continue to hope, pray, and reflect on how we as a faith-based community can continue to evangelize, live out Jesus’ mission to help others less fortunate, and show the entire world the glories of this faith. The Naming Team and Unification Committee will continue to turn to our parishioners to gather feedback and ask for prayers and support as we continue on our unification journey together! We hope you truly know your input was crucial to the results of choosing the four names. Thank you for your patience in the decision process. As usual, please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
Yours in Christ, The Naming Team & the Unification Committee