WisSJ: Fewer priests, more church mergers

By now, the U.S. priest shortage is common knowledge, yet it’s stunning to see how it has played out locally.

In 1960, there were 181 priests and 137 parishes in the Madison Catholic Diocese, a ratio of 1.32 priests per parish.

By 2006, the number of priests had dropped by half to 91, while the number of parishes remained nearly unchanged at 135. That ratio: .67 of a priest for each parish. All the while, the number of Catholics in the area grew along with the general population.

So it’s no surprise that around the same time, the diocese organized parishes into geographic clusters and asked each cluster to identify how best to use its resources. The result has been a series of mergers, most recently between St. Joseph and St. James Catholic churches in Madison.

Read more: http://host.madison.com/wsj/lifestyles/faith-and-values/religion/in-the-spirit-fewer-priests-more-church-mergers/article_1b53bfa8-6a0e-11e1-9658-001871e3ce6c.html#ixzz1pmpwD12Y