Sparked by declining attendance numbers and fewer men heading into the seminary, the Archdiocese of Detroit is beginning the second phase of its restructuring project.
"We want to be sure that there is an active Catholic presence in every corner," Fr. Mario Amore said.
On Tuesday, more than 200 priests gathered to discuss the future of a diocese that once called more than 1 million local Catholics parishioners. With 209 parishes currently open across all of southeast Michigan, steady declines in both membership, regular attendance and a growing priest shortage have pushed church leaders to find a solution.
"We need to look strategically across the diocese to see where our parish communities need to be so that we can continue to serve everyone to the best of our abilities," said Amore.
Fr. Mario Amore is the executive director of parish renewal for the Archdiocese, the department behind the restructuring process.
He says with the ongoing priest shortage projected to decline by close to 40% in the next five years, keeping every parish open across all six counties in southeast Michigan is getting harder to do.
"We simply don't have the manpower. We don't have the number of priests moving forward to continue to staff all of the church buildings that we have," said Amore.
One way they are addressing the issue is by reassigning priests across the diocese to serve the changing community, which means a majority of churchgoers could have a new leader by next year.
"We're all going to have to make change, and change that would create many possibilities," said Fr. Ed Zaorski.
One priest who may face a move is Fr. Ed Zaorski.
Leading St. James Catholic Church in Novi since 2019, the pastor joined the parish through a restructuring after leading another church for over 20 years.
Zaorski says while the future is unknown, he knows it will benefit the diocese in the end.
"Restructuring is going to prepare us better for mission, not only to address the shortage of priests, but to really provide quality service for the people of God that we're called to serve," said Zaorski.
Beginning Wednesday, the Archdiocese is publishing financial and demographic workbooks for each of its parishes online, ahead of area listening sessions to get community feedback.
"I promise you there is no set plan; if there was, we wouldn't be doing all of this work. But we are committed to that transparency, and we're committed to a process that engages every person that wants to be involved," said Amore.