The Diocese of Charleston changed its geographical parish groupings, known as deaneries, on April 5.
Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone said the new regions were created to increase a sense of unity for the people in those areas.
The realignment added two new deaneries, going from five to seven, and changed the names. Instead of Piedmont, Midlands, Lowcountry, Coastal and Pee Dee, the names reflect the center-most city in each region: Greenville, Columbia, Aiken, Beaufort, Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Rock Hill.
Churches that are in the new Rock Hill Deanery include All Saints, Divine Saviour, St. Philip Neri, St. Anne and St. Mary in York County; St. Joseph Church and St. Michael Mission in Chester; and St. Catherine Church and Our Lady of Grace Mission in Lancaster.
Churches in the new Aiken Deanery include Sacred Heart in Abbeville; Our Lady of Lourdes in Greenwood; Good Shepherd in McCormick; St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception and St. Edward in Edgefield; Our Lady of the Valley, Our Lady of Peace, St. Mary Help of Christians and St. Gerard in Aiken County; and St. Andrew in Barnwell.
Bishop Guglielmone appointed interim deans who will serve from Easter until the end of 2015. They are Father Robert Sayer for the Aiken Deanery and Father Fabio Refosco for the Rock Hill Deanery. The other deans are Beaufort: Msgr. Ronald Cellini; Charleston: Father Dennis Willey; Columbia, Father Gary Linsky; Greenville: Father Jay Scott Newman; and Myrtle Beach: Father Karl Roesch OSB.
Permanent deans will be elected in all the deaneries at the end of the year.
Below is a map of the new deanery boundaries with church and school locations marked. Click the image to enlarge.
Below is a comparison of the old and new deanery divisions. Click the image to enlarge.
