The Diocese of Jefferson City is planning meetings this week to discuss the possibility of starting a new parish and school in Columbia.
Deacon Dan Joyce says the diocese needs to expand to accommodate the more than 4,100 Catholic households in Columbia. Catholics in the city currently attend Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Thomas More Newman Center or Sacred Heart.
Our Lady of Lourdes pastor Michael Flanagan said the meetings at Columbia parishes this week are to determine whether parishioners support the expansion.
Joyce told KOMU (http://bit.ly/1dHr4u0 ) the diocese needs another school to complement Our Lady of Lourdes Interparish School, the only Columbia Catholic school serving grades K-8. The school currently has 615 students and has to turn away families every year.