The Vatican is considering a last-ditch appeal from a group of parents trying to prevent the closure of St. Hubert Catholic School in northwest suburban Hoffman Estates.
The parents are also calling on the Archdiocese of Chicago to institute a three-year moratorium on Catholic school closures and to form an independent board to review future school closure recommendations.
The 65-year-old St. Hubert school was among six local Catholic schools the archdiocese decided to shutter earlier this year, citing ongoing enrollment declines and financial deficits. Parents appealed to Pope Leo XIV after the archdiocese rejected their request for Cardinal Blase Cupich to reconsider.
The appeal was made through a procedure under Canon law known as a petition for “hierarchical recourse,” which allows someone to challenge a cardinal’s decision and take it up with their superior. The Vatican’s decision to hear the case is significant because it often rejects such petitions.
In late April, an official with the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education, which oversees Catholic schools around the world, wrote in a letter that the department had “begun its study of the case” and would respond according to the usual protocols, which would typically yield a response within three months.
The appeal to the Vatican was made on behalf of Jillian Bernas Garcia, a parent of two children at Hubert, according to the letter.
Bernas Garcia said the parents learned in May that their case was being reviewed. They waited to share the news widely “so that the families and children could focus on ending the school year, enjoying their friends and teachers, and celebrating the school,” she wrote in an email.
The archdiocese said it is aware of the parent’s petition but directed questions on the matter to the Vatican.
In a statement, the group of parents said the Vatican’s decision to examine the case “signals that the circumstances surrounding the closure warrant further scrutiny.” They added that the school’s closure was not “financially necessary,” pointing to an independent analysis they commissioned that found the school could improve its finances through “modest” adjustments, such as salary cuts.
The parent group also accused the archdiocese of prioritizing “short-term balance sheets” over education.
“This is about more than one school,” Hubert parent Julie Chirinos said in a statement.
In a statement, the archdiocese said its Catholic schools office works with schools to make them “vibrant places of faith and learning for all students.” and “to ensure they remain on solid foundations well into the future.”
Low enrollment and financial troubles have plagued the archdiocese’s schools for decades. Chicago’s archdiocese has been losing students and schools since its enrollment peaked at 366,000 students in the mid-1960s.
The parents called on Cupich and the archdiocese to take steps to prevent more enrollment losses, saying there are plans to close dozens more schools. The archdiocese said there are no such plans.
Still, the parents want to put a pause on all Catholic school closures within the archdiocese for three years. Chicago Public Schools is under a similar moratorium that is set to expire at the end of the 2026-27 school year.
The group also wants the archdiocese to create a high-level staff position responsible for supporting struggling schools.