The bishop of the Youngstown Diocese has announced plans for merging parishes due to a changing church population.
The plan covers every parish within the six-county Diocese in one of three ways. The parish will remain as a single unit, merge by joining with two or more churches or collaborate by maintaining separate identities but simultaneously sharing resources and priests. Youngstown is the last diocese in Ohio to announce parish reorganization plans.
"Our goal is to face squarely the reality of a declining number of priests, and to respond to that by reconfiguring the Diocese so that we can be stronger than we have been in the past," Murry said.
Murry stated the three main reasons why the parish changes needed to be made.
The first reason is the decrease in Catholic priests. The Diocese has 97 active priests serving 112 parishes at this time with 35 of those priests approaching retirement age. Bishop Murry said that by 2014, with some priests retiring and some men becoming priests, the number of active priests will stand at 76.
The second reason is the workload of those active priests. The priests work anywhere from 40 hours to 80 hours per week. The bishop stated that those priests need a lighter workload so they don't "burn out" before retirement age.
Lastly is the decline in the Catholic population in northeast Ohio. From 2000 to 2009, there has been a 44,000 member decline in the Catholic population.
During the 18-month restructuring planning stage, or phase one, representatives were selected from each of the churches in the Diocese. From there, a representative was selected to represent each area. Out of those representatives, an executive committee was formed. This committee asked for input from the individual parishes on the changes that needed to be made. Out of the five parishes that submitted changes, the Diocese was able to approve four of those changes.
With phase one in place, phase two will now begin. This phase will take place over the next two years and it is the implementation phase of the restructuring plan. In this phase, questions such as parish names, worship sights, etc. will need to be answered and those questions will be answered on a parish level with input from the churches involved.
Although the bishop realizes that the restructuring and mergers of parishes will be tough for some members, he also said that he has gotten a lot of support, as well. He called the restructuring "unavoidable."
Murry stated that this plan will "infuse new life into the church" by allowing the priests to better serve their parish communities, and he feels that this was the "most realistic and passionate way to merge."
To see the full restructuring plan,
click here.
