About St. Aloysius - Sacred Heart (Royalton-Zeigler) · Royalton, Illinois
St. Aloysius – Sacred Heart is a Roman Catholic parish in Royalton, Illinois (Franklin County), established in 1919 and entrusted to the Diocese of Belleville. The parish serves the communities of Royalton and Zeigler and is currently partnered with St. John the Baptist in neighboring West Frankfort, sharing an Administrator and pastoral staff. Weekly worship centers on a Sunday morning Mass at 8:00 a.m. at the church on Pecan Street, with a Wednesday evening Mass and a Wednesday confession time making up the rest of the public schedule. It is a small, tightly-knit country parish in the southern Illinois coal-country region, and most of its day-to-day administration is run through the rectory in West Frankfort.
- Established
- 1919
- Rector
- Rev. Eusebius C. Mbidoaka, Ph.D., S.T.D. (Administrator)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Belleville
Why belong here
St. Aloysius – Sacred Heart is a small, generational parish in southern Franklin County that gathers for a single Sunday Mass each week and a mid-week Mass on Wednesdays, making it easy to know your neighbors and be known. It is partnered with St. John the Baptist in West Frankfort — sharing a pastor, a school (St. John the Baptist Grade School), and a Parish School of Religion program — so parishioners can plug into Catholic school education, PSR faith formation, the Ladies Sodality, lector and Eucharistic minister ministries, and the diocesan Catholic Service and Ministry Appeal without leaving the immediate area. For Catholics in Royalton or Zeigler who want a quiet, walkable parish with weekly confession and a long Sunday tradition going back to 1919, it is the local anchor.
Mass times at St. Aloysius - Sacred Heart (Royalton-Zeigler)
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Wednesday: 5:00 p.m. (St. Aloysius, before the 5:30 p.m. Mass)
Parish Identity and Location
St. Aloysius – Sacred Heart is a Roman Catholic parish in Royalton, Franklin County, Illinois, established in 1919 and part of the Diocese of Belleville. Its church sits at 212 S. Pecan Street, Royalton, IL 62983, while the parish's mail and pastoral offices are administered through the rectory at 703 East Main Street, West Frankfort, IL 62896. The parish serves the small towns of Royalton and Zeigler in the southern Illinois coal-country region.
- Established: 1919
- Diocese: Belleville
- Street address: 212 S. Pecan Street, Royalton, IL 62983
- Mailing address: 703 East Main Street, West Frankfort, IL 62896
- Parish name honors St. Aloysius Gonzaga and the Sacred Heart of Jesus
History
The parish was founded in 1919 to minister to the Catholic families of Royalton and nearby Zeigler, an area long defined by the coal mining industry that drew immigrant Catholics to southern Illinois. It has been formally partnered with St. John the Baptist in West Frankfort (est. 1916) for many years, and the two parishes today share an administrator, office staff, faith-formation program, and school. A 2018 parish bulletin identifies the combined mission as the 'Roman Catholic Church of Southern Franklin County,' with St. Aloysius/Sacred Heart in Royalton and St. John's in West Frankfort functioning as a single pastoral unit.
- Founded 1919 — same period as neighboring St. John the Baptist, West Frankfort (1916).
- Historically a mining-region parish serving Royalton and Zeigler.
- Long-standing partnership with St. John the Baptist, West Frankfort.
- St. Aloysius Cemetery (also called Sacred Heart Cemetery) preserves the parish's generational memory with over 1,000 burials.
Clergy and Staff
The parish is currently served by an Administrator rather than a resident pastor, in line with its formal partnership with St. John the Baptist. The pastor and parish office staff are based out of the West Frankfort rectory.
- Administrator: Rev. Eusebius C. Mbidoaka, Ph.D., S.T.D. — 618-932-2828
- Administrative Assistant / Child Protection Coordinator — 618-932-2828 / 618-937-2017
- Parish School of Religion (PSR): Christy Goforth — 937-2017
- Music Director (shared with St. John's): Debra DeGoricia — 889-0791
Sacraments
The parish prepares parishioners for and celebrates the seven Catholic sacraments. Weddings require at least eight months of preparation with the pastor, and baptisms and funerals are arranged through the parish office.
- Baptism – arrangements made through the parish office (937-2017).
- First Eucharist and Confirmation – prepared through the shared PSR program.
- Marriage – arrangements made with the pastor eight months in advance.
- Anointing of the Sick and Funeral – arrangements made with the pastor or with the funeral director.
- Reconciliation – Wednesday 5:00 p.m. at St. Aloysius.
Faith Formation and School
Parish school-age faith formation is run jointly with St. John the Baptist through the Parish School of Religion (PSR), and Catholic grade-school education is available through St. John the Baptist Grade School in West Frankfort, which the partnered parishes support.
- Parish School of Religion (PSR) — Christy Goforth, 937-2017
- St. John the Baptist Grade School, West Frankfort — Principal Jacqueline White-Brand (as of 2018)
- School phone: 937-2017
- Website: www.stjohnswestfrankfort.com
Parish Ministries and Organizations
Liturgical and parish-life ministries are woven into the small-parish rhythm at St. Aloysius/Sacred Heart, with many volunteers serving at both the Royalton and West Frankfort worship sites.
- Lectors
- Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion
- Altar Servers
- Cantors and music ministry (Debra DeGoricia, Music Director)
- Ladies Sodality — monthly meetings and parish fundraising
- Catholic Service and Ministry Appeal (CSMA) — diocesan annual appeal
- Collection / envelope stewardship
Parish Cemetery
St. Aloysius Cemetery, also known as the Sacred Heart Cemetery, is the parish's historic burial ground and serves as a tangible link to the generations of Catholic families who built and sustained the parish in the Royalton–Zeigler area.
- Commonly called St. Aloysius Cemetery or Sacred Heart Cemetery
- Located in the Royalton, Illinois area
- Contains over 1,000 burials recorded in public genealogy indexes
Contact, Visit, and Partner Parish
Because the parish shares pastoral leadership with St. John the Baptist in West Frankfort, most administrative needs — weddings, baptisms, PSR registration, envelope stewardship, and the Catholic Service and Ministry Appeal — are handled through the West Frankfort rectory and parish office.
- Parish phone: 618-932-2828
- Office / Child Protection Coordinator: 937-2017
- Mailing address: 703 East Main Street, West Frankfort, IL 62896
- Worship address: 212 S. Pecan Street, Royalton, IL 62983
- Partner parish: St. John the Baptist, 703 E. Main Street, West Frankfort, IL 62896 — stalsacredheart.org