PORTAGE PARK — Archbishop Blase Cupich will announce the name of the newly created regional academy that will merge the schools of four Far Northwest Side Catholic churches Saturday at St. Pascal Church, officials said.
The announcement will come during 4 p.m. Mass at St. Pascal Church, 3935 N. Melvina Ave. A celebration will follow the mass, officials said.
In an online vote held earlier this month, parishioners and parents picked from four finalists: Pope Francis, Mother Teresa, St. Francis or Blessed Frederic Ozanam for the school's name.
Results from that vote have not been announced, and it is not clear whether the Cupich picked the winner, or chose another namesake for the school.
Representatives of the archdiocese did not return an email message Thursday.
Members of a local planning group charged with helping the archdiocese launch the school, which will open in September, selected Mother Teresa, St. Francis and Ozanam as the three individuals who "best represented their developing spiritual vision" for the school.
Cupich added Pope Francis' name to the list of finalists, group members said.
Francis named Cupich archbishop of Chicago after Cardinal Francis George stepped down while suffering from cancer. George died earlier this year.
St. Cornelius, Our Lady of Victory, St. Pascal and St. Tarcissus schools will be consolidated into one school — with two campuses — over the next year, with the new school opening in fall 2016-17, according to the Archdiocese of Chicago.
The school's campuses — each with preschool through eighth grade — will be at St. Pascal in Portage Park and the other at St. Tarcissus in Gladstone Park.
The school buildings at Our Lady of Victory in Portage Park and St. Cornelius in Jefferson Park will close after the 2015-16 school year.
Cupich has said the merger is needed to preserve Catholic education in an era of declining enrollment and massive budget deficits.
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