The Boston Catholic Archdiocese is facing a sharp decline in the number of active priests in the next several years, a shift that could force another painful round of church closings and lead to other dramatic changes in parish life.That's one of the conclusions of a new 13-page report recently delivered to priests in the archdiocese.
The report says the number of active priests will drop from around 500 to under 300 in the next eight years, in large part because nearly 30 percent of priests now working in local parishes are over age 65.
"If no proactive archdiocesan-wide approach to future staffing, guided by the archbishop, is undertaken, the archdiocese faces hard results: a series of parish closings due to staff limitations and financial problems, and the accompanying hurt and anger," the report said.
Under Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the archdiocese closed 62 parishes since 2004, as the church struggled in the wake of the clergy sexual abuse scandal. O'Malley's predecessor Cardinal Bernard F. Law closed 42 parishes between 1994 and 2003.
Terry Donilon, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said the region is not immune from the challenges facing the rest of the Catholic Church.
"There is an enormous shift in the number of priests out there," he said.
Critics, including advocates for the closed parishes, said the report continues a top-down approach which angered parishioners who felt shut out of the decision-making process the last time parishes were closed.
O'Malley's decisions were particularly controversial. A handful of the closed parishes are still occupied by protesters and several civil suits and canon law challenges are still pending.
The committee that produced the report, made up of priests and lay members of the church, said the archdiocese must consider strategies used by other archdioceses, including more collaboration between parish priests and greater use of deacons and lay ministers.
Some of the suggestions could prove controversial, such as limiting the number of days when funerals can be performed or letting parishes hold communion services, which unlike a mass, do not require the presence of a priest.
The report doesn't mention two strategies advocated by liberal Catholics to boost the number of priests, but barred by the Vatican - the ordination of women and allowing priests to marry.
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