In U.S. states with a traditionally strong Catholic presence, many parishes are starting to close. The Diocese of Cleveland has suppressed 29, while 41 others are being merged. The paedophile priest scandal is obviously not extraneous to this phenomenon.
We might almost say it is a “job security crisis” in the sacristy. To stem the crisis of vocations, prelate Richard G. Lennon is restructuring his dioceses and amalgamating parishes - but the priests who have been removed and reassigned are rebelling with an appeal to the Holy See.
In Cleveland, Ohio, an unprecedented case has erupted.
Three of the 29 priests whose parishes were suppressed (and their churches closed) by Diocesan Bishop Lennon have appealed to the Congregation for the Clergy for the immediate restoration of the parishes and the re-opening of churches for worship.
Throughout the Rust Belt (a manufacturing area in the Northeast U.S.) and in the inland towns toward the Midwest, Catholic communities are lamenting the closing of parishes.
This is a five-year trend that has now reached Cleveland. Bishop Richard G. Lennon, head of the Cleveland diocese (which includes more than 750,000 Catholics), has closed 29 parishes and merged 41 others. The restructuring plan actually cut 52 parishes out of a total of 224.
But lean times are not over for American churches.
Over the past few years the dioceses of Chicago, Detroit, and Boston have closed or aggregated dozens of parishes, in some cases to alleviate the financial difficulties caused by the paedophilia scandal. And now it’s New York: the archdiocese of the Big Apple announced that it will lock up 31 churches and 14 schools, clearing the way for the most extensive reorganisation in the last 150 years.
This drastic decision is being driven by the declining number of priests (the retiring of older priests and shortage of vocations), the decrease in attendance at Mass, and demographic changes. Manhattan and the Bronx alone are closing 17 parishes, while the ecclesiastical authorities plan to build some new churches – only a few - in the northern and peripheral areas of the archdiocese where many Catholics have moved over the years.
“It’s not a big surprise, but it is heartbreaking,” said Joanne Kennedy, parishioner of the Church of the Nativity (East Village). Indeed, although expected for years now, the announcement has sparked discontent within the community of 2.5 million Catholics in New York.
“We want to stay open,” said Father John Flynn to the monthly Paolini when he learned from the newspapers that his parish of St. Martin of Tours (Bronx) will be closed. “We’re doing a great job with many children.”
The decision, however, is unavoidable - the buildings will be sold or converted into offices. In Detroit as well (1.3 million members), where many churches have closed their doors over the last decade, 16 other parishes will meet the same fate. Cardinal Adam Maida did not hide his discomfort when making the announcement: “Even knowing in advance, there is no denying the pain and sense of loss for a community linked to a church or school.”
This is all the more true for parishes in small towns or those attended by immigrant communities, whose churches serve as a community resource. Archbishop Sean O’Malley of Boston knows something about this.
When he closed 62 parishes two years go (14 more will be closing in the coming months), a wave of protests mounted. O’Malley carefully selected the parishes to be divested: he chose those with the lowest attendance and which celebrated the fewest weddings and christenings, and was careful to avoid those located in the poorest neighbourhoods.
So this is a general phenomenon. Nevertheless, some civil suits have been filed, while others are writing to the Vatican. Still others are barricading themselves in churches in protest.
All the most recent surveys on religion in the United States show a convergence of data: a growing number of non-believers (pushing some commentators to speak of atheism as a “new power”); a growing number of believers who do not belong to any church; and Catholicism being the religious organization that has suffered the heaviest losses, buffered for now by the influx of immigrants of Hispanic origin (coming from countries where, however, evangelical proselytism is becoming more aggressive by the day).
In U.S. states with a traditionally strong Catholic presence, many parishes are starting to close.
The Diocese of Cleveland has suppressed 29, while 41 others are being merged.
The paedophile priest scandal is obviously not extraneous to this phenomenon.