Detroit — Parishioners of St. John Paul II Parish in Hamtramck have been continuing an ongoing conversation about three church buildings this August, since they were informed of the possible closures of two of the sites – St. Ladislaus Church and St. Louis the King Church. Transfiguration Church in Detroit is the parish’s other site.

Fr. Andrew Wesley, pastor of the 760-family parish, told parishioners in late July, following a parish town hall meeting, that the two churches needed to close because the parish didn’t have the means to sustain all three sites for more than another year.

Fr. Wesley reiterated in the parish bulletin that no plans had been finalized.

Parish plans that entail the closure of worship sites require a review by the archbishop’s consultors and a decree from the archbishop to be official. That part of the process has not yet taken place.

The pastor and lay leaders from St. John Paul II Parish had been consulting with officials from the Archdiocese of Detroit in earnest since March 2014, attempting to resolve whether the parish community could financially sustain all three worship sites. That conversation led to the parish town hall meeting in July.

Officials from the Archdiocese of Detroit were present alongside Fr. Wesley at a meeting to present a financial summary and answer questions about the parish’s finances.

Early this week, Fr. Wesley said the planning process regarding church sites is awaiting further conversation with officials from the archdiocese before any plans could be finalized.

No timetable has been determined on when plans might be formally approved by Archbishop Allen Vigneron.

Blessed John Paul II Parish was formed in 2012 after the merger of St. Ladislaus, St. Louis the King and Transfiguration-Our Lady Help of Christians parishes. Its name was changed to St. John Paul II Parish earlier this year after the canonization of its namesake pope