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Archdiocese To Close St. Adalbert Church As Part Of Pilsen Consolidation Plan

(CBS) -- A parish in Pilsen will close under a new consolidation plan announced by the Archdiocese of Chicago.

St. Adalbert Parish Church at 17th and Ashland was built in 1914. It will close this year under the Archdiocese's proposal to close one parish and consolidate several others.

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The Archdiocese says the building is too expensive to maintain.

Six parishes in Pilsen will be downsized to three. St. Pius V, St. Paul and St. Procopius will remain open. St. Ann and Providence of God will remain open as worship sites, but they will be folded into other parishes.

"This process was needed because of the significant changes in the community and the Archdiocese, including neighborhood demographics, lower Mass attendance and an overall decline in the number of priests," the Archdiocese said in a statement.

The changes will take effect June 30.

Treasure Salinas worshipped at St. Adalbert for 50 years.

"It seems like they're just kicking us out of the Catholic Church," she said. "That's the way I feel. I'm sorry."

Father Don Nevins of the St. Agnes of Bohemia Parish worked on the plan as dean of region that includes Pilsen.

"We've tried to learn a lot from this for how we're going to look to do things in the archdiocese in the future," Nevins said.

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