Vatican upholds decision to close St. Hubert School in Hoffman Estates

The Vatican overseen by Chicago native Pope Leo XIV has turned down a last-ditch appeal to overturn the Archdiocese of Chicago’s decision to permanently close St. Hubert Catholic School in Hoffman Estates.

A coalition of parents who’d asked the Vatican’s Dicastery of Culture and Education to reverse the decision was informed by their canon lawyer that the Vatican found that procedures to close the 65-year-old school had been properly followed and won’t be changed.

Holy Archangels Parish Pastor Tomy Abraham and the parish finance council had written to Cardinal Blase Cupich in January asking for the school to be closed and Cupich agreed, members of the coalition said Tuesday.

The school closed at the end of the 2025-26 school year and has not resumed classes this year.

The parents had sought to present evidence documenting mismanagement of finances and poor decision-making by parish administrators leading to the closure request.

“The Dicastery of Culture and Education’s ruling that a procedure was followed makes it glaringly evident that the Archdiocese of Chicago’s procedure needs to change,” parent Jillian Bernas Garcia said in a statement. “It should not be acceptable to anyone in the Archdiocese that schools can be made to close by people who benefit from their closure.”

The ruling indicated the appeals court had made its decision on procedural grounds, she added, without looking deeper into the supporting evidence provided by parents.

The archdiocese issued a statement Tuesday in regard to the decision.

“We are aware of the Vatican’s ruling,” the statement reads. “The decision to close a school is never made lightly and we will continue to support St. Hubert school families as they transition to other Catholic schools.”

But the coalition of parents is now asking Cupich and other leaders of the archdiocese for a three-year moratorium on the closure of schools, and the appointment of a chief revitalization officer and independent school closure review board.

“It is shocking to parents and school supporters that a priest can come to a parish with a 65-year tradition of Catholic education, be there for a year and a half, and then just decide to close the school after poorly managing it and that the Cardinal is just willing to accept this decision and hold no one accountable for a failure to do the work that needed to be done,” parent Jessica Reisenbuchler said in a statement.

In January, the archdiocese’s then-Superintendent of Schools Greg Richmond described the decision to close St. Hubert, along with Our Lady of Humility in Beach Park and four schools in Chicago, as financially necessary.

“We made these decisions with heavy hearts after months of discussions with each school,” Richmond said in a statement. “We know the importance of these schools in each community. Unfortunately, the enrollment of each school is too low, and the ongoing deficits are too high.”

St. Hubert was the only Catholic school within the borders of Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54, its supporters said.

epeterson@dailyherald.com