continue at Milwaukee Catholic Herald2020. It sounds so far away. But in church time, it is near – so near that Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki and the Archdiocesan Planning Commission are preparing for it, particularly as to how the spiritual needs of the Catholic community will best be served.
The one mission of the church, shared by all parishes, can be carried out more effectively by combining efforts and sharing resources.
- “Parishes and Pastoral Leadership 2020,” approved and issued by Archbishop Listecki Wednesday, Aug. 8, notes “three principal factors” that will have an impact on parishes during the next decade:
- From 2010 to 2020, the number of priest retirements will exceed ordinations resulting in a projected 40 percent reduction in the number of priests serving in parish ministry.
- The costs of operating parishes and funding ministries are escalating rapidly and parishes can gain economies of scale by collaborating with other parishes.
There are 203 parishes in the archdiocese. By 2020, there will be 100 parishes and clusters.
“Of these, 28 are free-standing parishes and the remaining parishes will create 72 clusters,” the plan states. “The 72 clusters will be formed by bringing together approximately 175 parishes and establishing collaborative staffing, structures and ministries.”
In an interview with your Catholic Herald Friday, Aug. 3, the archbishop said the plan “depends on us embracing our Catholicity.”
“The aspect of Catholicity is the true spirit that guides us. It was that Catholicity and that commitment that produced so many priests that we were able to have individual priests in a parish,” he said. “Now, maybe what we need to do is regroup, grab our Catholicity so it helps us to inspire those individuals to serve in various communities and that we might have more ordained personnel to serve in the future.”
Abp. Listecki spearheaded a "Pastoral Plan" for the Diocese of La Crosse which follows a similar model of not closing any parishes but clustering them together.
6 comments:
(Brian from Illinois): I believe that the Milwaukee Archdiocese has 32 Seminarians heading into the 2012-13 academic year. I know that several Priests in the Archdiocese have been suspended over the last year or so for several different things. And sadly, they just lost another Priest the other day when Father Capriolo was killed. :( May we all keep praying daily for everyone in the Archdiocese, and especially for an increase in Seminarians; especially Seminarians who are more traditional minded. For that matter, most of Catholic Wisconsin needs this kind of help right now!
I like the approach because it allows for parishes to separate again if the priest population increases, but that would take at least a few decades if it does ever recover to pre-Weakland numbers. On the plus side, maybe some of the nasty wreckovated parishes go away and the beautiful ones could be maintained.
(Brian): I forgot to mention that they also lost another Priest when Monsignor David Malloy was named our new Bishop in Rockford. Badger, I like your idea about the wreckovated parishes disappearing! :) Also, this weekend at St. John Parish in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin (about 8 miles from my house), the rector of St. Francis De Sales Seminary is going to be celebrating the weekend Masses and preaching/speaking about the importance of praying for vocations. A Seminarian will also talk about his vocational journey.
That is good news and having seminarians get out and meet other young men is a good idea.
Badger Catholic, I like what you said, about about the plan allowing the parishes to separate again if the number of priests increases and about ditching some of the nasty wreckovated parishes.
I think it is essential to hold on to as many of the church buildings as possible, even if they are only part of a 'cluster.'
Historically the number of priests has always waxed-and-waned (I think Americans are often in the habit of comparing the present situation with 1955 and thinking we are in some kind of free-fall from what had been the situation for centuries.) Looking at very distant history though, there would have been times when even the most tiny villages had its own priest, and times when dozens of villages had no priest unless one happened to pass through once or twice a year. Through it all though, people typically did their best to maintain the church building itself, always ready.
A trend I really am not fond of, and I hope this new directive does not lead to more of it, is when they take 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. lovely country churches on village main-streets, shut them all down, and merge them into a sort of office-space looking kind of building.
I have said it before, visit any place in Europe, be it Paris or the smallest village, and a local friend, even an atheist one, will almost certainly proudly show you the local parish (or Cathedral). Would that hold true of the typical American suburban parish? Is anyone really eager to show their friends and visitors?
Something else form the article, "Stating the value that Catholic high schools and colleges/universities have in helping Catholics develop “lifelong practice of the Catholic faith,” the plan states, “These institutions have also become the best sources for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. The assignment of priests to these institutions as chaplains, at minimum on a part-time basis, will be strategized by the Priest Placement Board.”
In an ideal world, yes. There is great POTENTIAL value. However, I really hope this is not an affirmation of the status quo. Sure a lot of priests went to Catholic schools (especially on the elementary school level). I think this just speaks more to the fact that the family was devout than that the school itself triggered a vocation.
I hope our Archdiocese is closely watching how things are going at St. Paul's Madison. High Schools and Colleges are exactly where we need to be sending orthodox, young (or at least with an understanding of young people), energetic, clergy.
I don't have the numbers to back it up, but I have a strong feeling that for it's size, Milwaukee is actually doing "good" on the number of seminarians when compared nationwide. This being said they do have a long way to go. Having Fr. Luke Strand head up that office will be a tremendous blessing and many of the events he is already speaheading and/or organizations he is partnering with are very encouraging.
This 2020 plan could turn out to be a great blessing for the Archdiocese.
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