Once, South St. Louis was overwhelmingly composed of Irish and Germans, along with Italians and other European backgrounds. That is far from the case now. A St. Louis Post Dispatch article of May 1995 listed over 50 nationalities in the St. Louis area, most of them present in South St. Louis alone. Our Catholic parishes are reflecting this breathtaking diversity. One school, St. Pius V at Grand and Utah, has over 20 nationalities in its school alone, including a variety of Far Eastern students and those from the eastern African coast.

How has this happened so quickly? In 1981,The International Institute of Metropolitan St. Louis moved to Park Avenue on the near South Side. Charged with finding housing for an increasing flow of refugees, the Institute turned to the solid and plentiful housing in the South Grand area. As had happened with St. Louis' first waves of immigrants in the late 1800's, word got back to relatives and communities in the new residents' home countries. An influx of people has continued ever since.

Situated a little deeper in the South Side, Resurrection, like nearby parishes (St. Stephen's, St. John the Baptist) still has much of its core of German and other European members. There are still parishoners from the parish's very first days in 1930, and graduates of the gradeschool from 1935 on, as well as children who grew up in the parish and now raise their own families here. But the influx of recent refugees and other immigrants is felt here also. There are two Vietnamese families registered in our school, two Bosnian families, and a number of Filipino parishoners. The movement of peoples within St. Louis has brought an increase in African American and Hispanic residents. Resurrection parishoners find themselves neighbors to new people without having moved at all, and it is both exciting and challenging. Our parishoners have responded with great welcoming, while inviting newer residents to join in keeping the neighborhood attractive and vital.

Resurrection is an important member of C-4 , Churches Committed to Community Concerns. Over 20 Christian church meet several times a month to work on housing, crime, schools, and general community issues. Work also goes on with landlords,

aldermen, and corporate interests. This work is highly regarded by the St. Louis Catholic Archdiocese, as Archbishop Rigali stressed to Father Tom Wyrsch in appointing him as pastor. And shortly after starting at Resurrection, Father Tom got the chance to join in a parish Neighborhood Prayer walk after the Sunday Masses. Coverage by the Review, the Post-Dispatch, and KMOX showed the whole region Resurrection's commitment to be a positive force in South St. Louis.

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