Bishop Gettelfinger named St. Benedict, the largest church building in Evansville, as the new cathedral for the diocese, which had not had a permanent cathedral since Assumption was closed in 1965. Recognizing the influx of Latin American Catholics into the diocese, a Hispanic ministry center was opened in 2000. Although the number of priests continued to decrease, the diocese began to ordain several large classes of permanent deacons. In 2008, St. Mary and St. Simon parishes in Washington merged to become Our Lady of Hope Parish, and St. Mary church was closed and razed. Faced with a declining number of priests and demographic shifts, the diocese began a formal planning process beginning in 2009 to allocate resources for the future. A new high school, named for Pope John Paul II, was opened in Jasper in 2009; however the school was closed at the end of the 2011/12 school year due to low enrollment. In 2011, Charles Thompson, the vicar general of the Archdiocese of Louisville was appointed the fifth bishop of the diocese, replacing the retiring Bishop Gettelfinger. On July 1, 2014, a decree from Bishop Thompson merged several parishes, since the population no longer demanded as many parishes as it did during the mid-20th century. At the same time, the Diocese returned to enforcing a long-waived rule that no priest may say Mass more than three times on Sunday (including the evening vigil on Saturday), meaning some churches in the newly merged parishes would have no Sunday Masses at all. Bishops of Evansville Henry Joseph Grimmelsmann (1944-1965) Paul Francis Leibold (1966-1969), appointed Archbishop of Cincinnati Francis Raymond Shea (1969-1989) Gerald Andrew Gettelfinger (1989-2011) Charles Coleman Thompson (2011-2017), appointed Archbishop of Indianapolis Joseph M. Siegel (2017–present) Parishes Parish names in bold print. Except where otherwise indicated, a parish consists of a single church bearing the same name. South Deanery Evansville, Daylight, and Warrick County Dean: Rev. Phil Kreilein 12 parishes as of July 1, 2016 Evansville St. Benedict Parish (cathedral) Resurrection Parish Holy Redeemer Parish All Saints Parish St. Anthony of Padua Church (parish church) St. Joseph Church Annunciation of the Lord Parish Christ the King Church (parish church) Holy Spirit Church Good Shepherd Parish Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish St. Boniface Parish St. Boniface Church (parish church) Sacred Heart of Jesus Church St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr Church Sts. Mary and John Parish St. Mary