Parishioners from some of the 14 parishes slated to close in the Catholic Diocese of Greensburg say they were blindsided and not given adequate time to prepare for the Oct. 30 closures. "Our parishes were not consulted. They simply were not. It was a blinding, jolting shock," said Marian Mientus, from St. Stanislaus in the Calumet section of Mount Pleasant Township.
Along with nearby Forty Martyrs, St. Stanislaus is slated to close, with members, records, assets and cemeteries going to St. Florian in the United section of the township. The three churches, within 1.5 miles of each other, already share a pastor and an office.
The decisions were an-nounced last weekend. The main reason given was that the number of active diocesan priests in the diocese is expected to drop from 83 to 49 in the next decade. The diocese encompasses Armstrong, Fayette, Indiana and Westmoreland counties.
The parishes that will close have 2.5 percent of the Catholic population in the diocese, but 20 percent of the priests, Bishop Lawrence Brandt said. Assignment of the religious-order priests will now be based on pastoral need rather than a history of serving a particular parish. Many priest reassignments are coming "soon," he said.
In addition to the closures, two parishes will merge to form a new one and 26 others will form partnerships in which they share a pastor and other resources. This will reduce the number of parishes from 100 to 85, with 40 in partnerships.
On Monday, Bishop Brandt said the moves came from a three-year planning process involving more than 9,000 parishioners and clergy at 85 meetings in the 160,000-member diocese. But Ms. Mientus said she didn't attend any meetings.
"I thought they were about renewing and deepening your faith and trying to make the church stronger," she said. "There was never any word spoken that alluded that it was about whether or not to close churches. We feel that this was a unilateral decision."
Ms. Mientus said she called Bishop Brandt's office to ask for a meeting, but no one would take her message. She is organizing a petition to stay open.
"This church is structurally sound. And it's in the black, not the red," she said.
Jerry Zufelt, managing director of diocesan communications, said the bishop is writing a letter to all parishioners to respond to concerns people have raised.
"It will outline the planning process and talk about some of the reasons we've had to do this," he said.
Even if people didn't realize that the 2006 listening sessions could affect buildings, he said, it should have been clear by January. Six chapels were closed in what Bishop Brandt called the "first step" of consolidation.Mr. Zufelt clarified an earlier announcement about counseling for parishioners upset by the changes. These will be group counseling sessions, which a priest or parish representative can call Catholic Charities to arrange, he said.
At St. Francis in Coral and St. Louis in Lucernemines, both in Indiana County, which will merge and become Our Lady of the Assumption, reaction was upbeat, said Msgr. Lawrence Kiniry, pastor of both.
"The people are very willing to move in a new direction," he said. "We see this as a very positive and exciting time."
That's not the case in Bovard, where the elderly built their lives around St. Bede, said Carol Milburn, a member of the parish slated for closure.
"This church isn't only about their prayer life. It's their social life and their family life. It's all in one, and it's being taken away from them," she said.
Even if this is necessary, it was wrong not to help people plan for transition, she said.
"My mother had a key and would go over and collect Communion to take to the sick," she said. "What will happen to that process?"
She wants the building to continue to serve Bovard.
"We are very hopeful that perhaps the church can be donated to our town and become a community center so it will continue to be a place where the people of St. Bede can come together and be a close community," she said.
The closed churches will be locked and all belongings stored in facilities that the diocese has arranged to make sure nothing goes astray, Bishop Brandt said.
"One of the worst things you can see is that something that was in my parish is for sale on eBay," he said.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce
(Source: PPG)