Dear Brothers and Sisters,

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Thank you to all who cast votes for a new parish name this last week. We had around 440 forms submitted with about 870 total votes (not every form voted for two names). The top three vote getters were: St. Joseph, Pillar of Families, Our Lady, Queen of Peace, and Our Lady, Mother of Mercy. These names will be submitted to the bishop along with context for those names. The bishop can then choose from those names, or he could ask us to submit three new names, or he could simply choose a name himself. I doubt he would do the last option, but he might choose the second option if there are many other ACCs/parishes requesting similar names (and I would not be surprised if Marian names are a very popular request).

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As far as I know, we are still on track to get an All Things New decree from the bishop effective May 3, 2026. If that is the case, you can expect that decree to be read at Masses next weekend, and copies available in paper or online. It is likely that the bishop would want to include the selected parish name in that decree, so we may have a rather quick resolution to our votes. These are important and challenging issues facing our communities and our diocese. Thank you for all of your prayers throughout this process, and please continue to pray for Bishop Neary and for all involved in these matters.

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Peace in Christ,

Father Timothy