In the summer of 2020, Dr. Gianna Emanuela Molla, the daughter of St. Gianna Beretta Molla of Italy, informed officials with the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois that Springfield had been selected as the site for the Saint Gianna and Pietro Molla International Center for Family and Life and the Shrine Church of Saint Gianna. As plans began to take shape, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois joined Dr. Molla in publicly announcing this joyful news in the spring of 2022 from St. Peter’s Square when he visited her in Rome. Since that announcement, the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois has been planning with great excitement and enthusiasm for the development of this holy project. Diocesan officials, however, have now learned this project is not coming to Central Illinois.

“It was with deep disappointment that I recently received the news that Dr. Gianna Emanuela Molla and the Board of Directors of the Saint Gianna Beretta Molla and Pietro Molla Foundation have decided not to locate theSaint Gianna and Pietro Molla International Center for Family and Life and the Shrine Church of Saint Gianna in Springfield, Illinois, as she had previously announced,” Bishop Paprocki said. “I pray that Dr. Gianna Emanuela Molla will find a location that she deems more suitable for her needs.”

The center was expected to be near the grounds of Corpus Christi Priory on Springfield’s northeast side. In July 2023, the Norbertine Fathers of St. Michael’s Abbey of Orange, Calif., established the new priory with eight priests now residing on the grounds. Their main apostolate at the priory is the Evermode Institute, which launched last summer and is already serving Catholic teachers, administrators, and formators in our diocese and beyond, offering a complete curriculum in the fundamentals of the Catholic faith that is confident in its Catholicism and clear in its approach. The Evermode Institute is receiving rave reviews.

You can pray with the Norbertine Fathers every day and attend Mass at St. Francis of Assisi Church (4867 Laverna Road in Springfield). Mass is at 7 a.m. Monday-Saturday and 9 a.m. on Sunday. Confessions take place in the church confessionals Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. The church opens at 5:30 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m. All are welcome to join the Norbertine Fathers in the liturgies and prayers offered in St. Francis of Assisi Church during those times.