The Catholic Diocese of Youngstown is responding to a changing church population.
This week it released a draft plan which reconfigures and consolidates the parishes within the six-county diocese.
A decline in priests, a shift in population from the cities to the suburbs and a changing attitude toward the church all jump-started the 18-month planning process to reshape the local Catholic community.
"We need to restructure the diocese in a way, with respect to parishes, that will enable us to provide, very efficiently and very creatively, ministry to our people in the days ahead," said the Rev. Nicholas Shori, of the Mahoning South Deanery.
Under the proposed draft, a parish will either remain a single unit, merge by joining with two or more churches or collaborate by maintaining separate identities but simultaneously sharing resources and priests.
Two churches, representing two ethnic groups in Campbell, have already been working together under one roof for the past three years.
"Having the Italians and the Hispanics here, we're both richer because we can learn from one another," said Sister Patricia Flores, of Humility of Mary.
Officials with the two parishes believe theirs is a feasible model. But they hope the new configuration recognizes the importance of the Hispanic community, which represents one of the fastest growing groups among American Catholics.
"The Mahoning Valley is so rich in this ethnic tradition, but that's because so many pass through," said the Rev. Gerald DeLucia, administrator of St. Lucy and St. Rose of Lima. "But the church helped them maintain and adapt, so that's what we're doing with the Hispanic community."
If a parish deems the draft unworkable, they have until March 15 to respond in writing. If not, the bishop will continue to gather information and is expected to announce the final plan in May.
