By the Grace of God and the Favor of the Apostolic See Bishop of Sioux City

May 3, 2007

In the Year of our Lord 1871, in a country school built by Catholic settlers, the first Mass in Cherokee County, Iowa, was celebrated by a priest of the Diocese of Dubuque. Several years later a small church was constructed in Sheridan Township and the settlement that grew up around it was christened "Maryhill." The number of Catholic families grew, and the original church soon proved too small to accommodate the faithful; a second church was constructed to meet the need. By the time the first resident pastor of the newly established Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Maryhill was appointed in 1895, the number of Catholic farm families had grown to seventy-five. Shortly thereafter, a Catholic school was built, and a rectory and convent followed thereafter. Following the destruction by fire of the second Maryhill church in 1904, the third Visitation Church was constructed, which would serve the needs of the Catholic faithful for over one hundred years.

In the years that followed, the number of Catholic farm families began to steadily decrease, both in numbers of families and in family size. In 1967, Visitation School was officially closed and the religious sisters who had staffed it departed. In 1970, with the arrival of the last resident pastor, the Reverend Eugene Sitzmann, priestly ministry at Visitation Parish began to be shared with the Mental Health Institute in Cherokee where Father Sitzmann served as chaplain, counselor, and director of its Clinical Pastoral Education program. With the retirement of Father Sitzmann as Pastor in 2005, the pastoral administration of Visitation Parish-as part of the Vineyard Cluster of Parishes-was centered in Cherokee under the Pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish.

On August 1, 2006, the third Visitation Church at Maryhill was tragically and completely destroyed in a violent wind storm. Parishioners struggled to maintain their sense of community by attending Mass at Immaculate Conception Church in Cherokee. Thereafter followed a lengthy consultative process that included Visitation parishioners, after which, on November 16, 2006, it was announced that no new church would be constructed. This was a time of pain and sadness, but the spirit of Catholic faithfulness and solidarity has helped to maintain the Maryhill community in this time of adversity.

Having reached this point in time, there is now a need to address the formal status of the Parish of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Maryhill. Lengthy consultation has taken place with a variety of individuals and groups, including members of the Diocesan Pastoral Council at its meeting on March 10, 2007, and members of the Diocesan Presbyteral Council at its meeting on March 16, 2007. As a result of that consultation, I, the undersigned Bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City, do hereby decree, according to the provision of canon 515, §2, of the Code of Canon Law, that the aforementioned Parish of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Maryhill, rural Cherokee County, Iowa, is herewith suppressed and that its status as a juridic person is hereby terminated.

I further decree that the parishioners of Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Maryhill, rural Cherokee County, Iowa, are to register-as households and according to their own free choice-in neighboring parishes, principally-though not exclusively-at Immaculate Conception Parish in Cherokee, St. John the Baptist Parish in Quimby, or Holy Name Parish in Marcus. I further decree that the real property-land and buildings-of Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Maryhill, rural Cherokee County, Iowa, shall become and is now the property of Immaculate Conception Parish in Cherokee, Iowa, to be maintained and administered in accordance with civil and canon law. Similarly, I decree that the geographical territory which comprised Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Maryhill, rural Cherokee County, Iowa, is henceforth incorporated into and now becomes a part of the geographical territory of Immaculate Conception Parish in Cherokee, Iowa.

I further decree that those funds of Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Maryhill, rural Cherokee County, Iowa, which are hereby designated as "restricted," shall be separately maintained as part of the patrimony of Immaculate Conception Parish in Cherokee and used solely for those purposes for which they were donated and received. These funds include: General Checking Account, P.S. Account, Parish Endowment Funds Account, Major Repair Fund Account, Cemetery Accounts, Bequest Account, Discretionary Fund Account, and Field Kitchen Insurance Account.

I further decree that those funds of Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Maryhill, rural Cherokee County, Iowa, which are hereby designated as "unrestricted," shall follow each household of former parishioners, on a pro-rated basis, to the parishes to which they shall subsequently register as parishioners. These funds include: P.R.A.Y. - Maryhill Youth Group Account, Parish Societies Checking Account, and Insurance Fund Account.

I further decree that any of the above-noted "unrestricted" funds, which may remain unallocated because present parishioners of Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Maryhill, rural Cherokee County, Iowa, fail to register elsewhere as parishioners within the 90-day time limit specified below, shall become part of the patrimony of Immaculate Conception Parish in Cherokee, Iowa.

I further decree that the transfer of these "restricted" and "unrestricted" funds to the appropriately intended parishes shall be effected no later than ninety (90) days from the date of this decree.

I further decree that the parishioners of Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Maryhill, rural Cherokee County, Iowa, shall have sixty (60) consecutive days from the date of publication of this decree in The Globe, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Sioux City, to make known-in writing and by mail-their preference of the parish at which they intend to register.

I further decree that, according to the requirements of canon law, those who are directly and principally affected by this decree, that is, those adults who, as of the date upon which this decree is dated, are registered as parishioners at Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Maryhill, rural Cherokee County, Iowa, have the right of recourse against this decree and may lodge an appeal against this decree within thirty (30) consecutive days of its publication in The Globe, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Sioux City.

Given in the Central Catholic Offices of the Diocese of Sioux City on this 1st day of May, 2007.

______________________________

Most Reverend R. Walker Nickless
Bishop of Sioux City

______________________________ Chancellor