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Boston Archdiocese Closing 65 Parishes

By DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press Writer

BOSTON - The weight of a priest shortage, shrinking collections and the clergy sex abuse scandal combined to force Boston's archbishop to announce Tuesday that his Roman Catholic archdiocese will lose 65 parishes by year's end.

The archdiocese, the nation's fourth-largest with more than 2 million Catholics, now has 357 parishes.

"Today is not an easy day for the people of the Archdiocese of Boston," Archbishop Sean O'Malley said.

"The alternative to going through this exercise would be that we would experience a continual decline in some areas of our archdiocese, closing parish after parish, school after school, outreach program after outreach program."

Older dioceses throughout the country have been closing parishes as the Catholic population shifts into the suburbs, and to the South and West, said Mary Gautier, a senior researcher at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. Dioceses in the upper Midwest and the Northeast have seen the most extensive changes.

The closings are occurring as many dioceses nationwide face financial problems due to dwindling investment income and higher insurance costs.

The abuse scandal, which began more than two years ago in the Boston Archdiocese, has contributed to these money woes. Donations have dropped in some dioceses, while others have seen abuse-related costs rise.

Last fall, the Boston archdiocese reached an $85 million agreement to settle lawsuits filed by more than 500 victims of clergy sex abuse.

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The entire article can be read at:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040526/ap_on_re_us/church_closings

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So, this brings up a question.

Are traditional, catholic, church forms dying under its own weight? Should we look to our fearless church leaders for the same moral and evangelical guidance they gave us for the past forty years?

Fr. Andrew Greeley calls them "mitred pinheads." He is a priest in the Archdiocese of Chicago and a professional sociologist who has written many studies (and novels) on Catholic issues, especially controversial ones.

Is this all a general all out failure to live the Gospel guidelines?

Though I personally see a faint light of hope, especially in the new birth of orthodoxy, I cannot help but notice the demise of traditional Christianity.

Was Pope Paul VI's words about the "smoke of Satan" prophetic?

Mainline Protestant Churches (and Catholic ones, including the East) are collapsing before our eyes. Many have given into the Liar by accepting the mores of a moral-less society; that post-Me generation that was never weaned off Woodstock and bad guitar Masses.

Am I guilty of despair? or just a "guilty bystander" hanging out in the slowly emptying halls where everyone looks around second-guessing who will turn off the lights?

Yes, the Boston Church was just a microcosm of the church-at-large. Homosexuality, heterodoxy, pedophilia, plain stupidity, ineptness, and the systematic collapse of the evangelical witness. The witnessing of 'coming-out-of-the-closet' socials at seminaries got me first thinking.

Like the cat that began eating only grass, something seemed wrong.

Are we in need of a Great Awakening? those events literally burned out the poor folks and eventually led to a climate of new (and bizzare) religions.

Are we in need of a Reformation? those usually end up splitting and dividing the church into cannibalistic evangelical efforts; Christians missionizing other Christians. Today's Crusading warfare?

Are we in need of turning the Church upside down with the power of leadership (or lack thereof) on the bottom of the pyramid, point down? Can a few well-written promisary notes about not maltreating little boys give us the kick we need?

Or are we in need of just a good spiritual consciousness raising where moral compases are lacking? Turn off MTV for good?

Our ECF program has basically failed. Most children only leave anyway. No love was instilled in them to help preserve and promote it. Sure, a few bright shining lights here and there that seem to defy the common momentum. But parishes merge and/or close.

These really aren't happy days. Or are they?

I am pessimistic, of course. Didn't you already know? Lie and/or mislead me once; shame on you. Lie and/or mislead me twice; shame on me. Lie and/or mislead me thrice; shame on both of us. Much material out there of which novels are made of ...

Tell me some good news. Does orthodox Christianity have a chance?

One bright light: The Da Vinci Code really got people thinking about Jesus and the Scriptures. The message was simple Gnosticism in new clothes peppered by current thinking by academic biblical studies. But now there are a dozen works challenging it. Many are written by Protestants and Evangelicals. References to Nicea, the martyrs, the Church Fathers, et al abound. Yet, I am not cognizant of any Catholic works in the frontlines challenging this novel.

Tell me how it will work out.

Joe

Amy Welborn [amywelborn.typepad.com] wrote a book that debunks the Da Vinci Code and it's gotten some notice: De-Coding Da Vinci [amywelborn.com] . I think you can get it through Amazon or possibly her own website (not sure). Carl Olsen and Sandra Miesel are also working on a book but I'm not sure when it comes out.

Dear Friends,

I think that people are "into" spirituality, but the kind that is non-threatening, that is debunking, and that kicks sacred cows in their exposed behinds.

That is behind the Da Vinci Code's popularity and also that of the "Pagan Christ" by our local Anglican beacon, Tom Harpur.

People love things that are anti-establishment, especially when it comes to religion and the Church.

Do you what I think would get people reading about traditional Christianity?

If a book came out on the Gospel of Thomas interpreting it (if possible) in an orthodox manner, relating it to the four canonical Gospels etc.

People will read something like that.

Alex

As to the rationale for the closings, please read the statement of Archbishop Sean O'Malley, OFM, Cap, at:

http://www.rcab.org/Parish_Reconfiguration/statement040525.html

Of the 65 parishes to be phased out, 5 will remain and continue to absorb the faithful from the surrounding parishes slated to be closed by the end of 2004, reducing the total number of parishes from 357 to 297 within the 2,465 square mile territorial jurisdiction of the Boston Archdiocese.

However, I don't share Joe's dire prognosis.

The "health" of the Boston Archdiocese, in particular, and of the Catholic Church in the U.S., in general, is well-served by this latest "reconfiguration."

It addresses past and current problems to strengthen the Church's future.

Amado

Dear Amado,

Actually, I agree with you wholeheartedly.

Bishop Sean comes to his new post with a solid background of "sticking up" for the poor.

As I understand it, he once resided in a slum apartment to help defend the poor Hispanic Catholic tenants there.

So beloved he became among the Hispanic people that they called him "Padre Sean."

And he won the struggle on their behalf.

He is a modest man who emulates the ideals of poverty and self-abasement of St Francis of Assisi.

(I wonder if he's seen my Akathist to St Francis, do you think? )

Alex

RE: The Da Vinci Code.

I am currently reading Erwin W. Lutzer's book, "THE DA VINCI DECEPTION," and it is good. It is the second Evangelical book I delved into in response to the Da Vinci Code book written by Dan Brown.

Funny how the Evangelicals are very good in using the arguments of the Council of Nicea, the writings of the Fathers, and the process of canonization of Scripture - while implying an authority greater than the Bible Alone - to combat heresy! How can this be? Does it take an outlandish promotion of heresy, albeit recycled from centuries ago, to stimulate the Church to rely on Tradition once again? Here is a great opportunity to join with non-Catholic/Orthodox Christians to combat the results of New Age, Feminist, and Liberal theology.

But as one priest said, "If it doesn't directly affect us, then we don't get involved." IOW, we have no commentary on currrent events unless it involves the cathedricum.

Maybe this can be a new topic even though some chruch leaders may too busy with accountants?

[BTW, I sent the first book I read to my aunt and uncle who were greatly worried about the stuff coming out of The Da Vinci Code book. One was about to leave the Church! But a little proper education about Church history, not fiction or faction, did the trick. Now, others in my family want to read it.]

Joe

Alex:

Archbishop O'Malley is for real!

To settle amicably the pending and impending suits versus the Boston Archdiocese due to the sexual misconduct of a few priests, he gave up and put up the Archbishop's residence and some other "unproductive" Church properties for sale and was able to realize sufficient funds to cover ALL victims (and their extremely happy lawyers!). He did it by NOT asking parishioners to shoulder the financial burden.

And to think that he is a Capuchin monk, and not a diocesan priest, who clearly appears to have a unique approach to pastoral leadership!

Amado

I don't see what's so surprising about all this. The Church has been completely open to Satanic affronts since the "smoke of Satan" entered the Church at Vatican Council II.

So, heads up. We can expect much more of the same in years to come until the Catholic hierarchy reclaims traditional Catholic morality and theology.

Saint Michael the Archangel, Protector of the Holy Church, pray unto God for us.

Logos Teen

Regarding the Church closings, I know that in Chicago a number of parishes were closed by the late Cardinal Bernardin, despite they're being financhially stable. Lifelong parishoners were told their Church was closing, often on short notice, and people were shocked, because in many instances, Mass attendence was still decent (for this day and age) and salaries were being met without outside help.

Unfortunately the many problems in the Catholic Church will not go away until we have a total house cleaning from top to bottom. I recently had an argument with a young woman who insisted to me, that one could still be Catholic while supporting abortion, gay marriage and the ordination of women. When I told her that it was contrary to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, she replied that she still goes to Mass, which apparently in her mind validates her defiance of Church teaching. Finally I suggested that the best way to make her voice heard, would be to send a letter to her pastor or bishop, informing them that she was leaving the Church because she was in disagreement with it's teachings. Her last reply was that she intended to stay in the Church and help bring about change.

Thank God for Bishops like Burke and Sheridan who are taking a definite stand.

Dear Lawrence:

Being from the Chicago Archdiocese, I wish to add our own, His Eminence, Francis Cardinal George, to your list of "strong" bishops.

He has handled the priestly scandals pretty well and has been in the forefront of "Catholic renewal" in the Archdiocese. Cardinal George is a Chicagoan working for Chicagoans!

Although some parishes have been closed lately, the aggregate financial well-being of the Archdiocese has been far better off than before the priestly scandals broke out. It's either more people are attending Masses or people are contributing more.

Either way, the Church in Chicago is in ferment!

Amado

The closing of churches is always sad because it seems to denote a loss of Christian life in a community.

Boston like many urban centers has experienced the 'doughnut effect' in which the more central parts of the city have lost significant population to the suburbs.

For example, the Dorchester, North End, and South End districts of the city were once a bedrock of working class Irish and Italian Catholics who were so numerous (and as a group wealthy), that they actually funded the establishment and daily management of parishes in the suburbs. Today, many of those urban churches have emptied out or have greatly diminished congregations and are now dependant on 'suburban Catholic' funds for their existance.

A good example of this would be the Cathedral of the Holy Cross located in Boston's South End district. The large and ornate temple was once at the center of the Irish 'Hood' but is now surrounded by a cosmopolitan and multi-cultural society. The church must now 'bus-in' most of it's congregants for the weekly mass served by the Cardinal.

Many of the closings will involve churches within the urban 'doughnut' (ie; the South End) where the prospects for increased Catholic numbers are dim to non-existant. Busing people in is just not a realistic option for most if not all churches within the 'urban doughnut'.

The money that is saved by closing some churches will help to strengthen the 'outer doughnut' (ie: suburbs) which have the best prospect of improving and maintaining Catholic church life in the Boston area.

IMHO, I think that much of this could have been avoided if they had just allowed priests to get married a long time ago. Things would not have come to this. The urban churches would have been just as vibrant.

Hritzko

Dear Greg:

You said:

Non sequitor!

Amado

This, unfortuately, is happening all over the US. Milwakee was first, then Chicago, then Philadelphia. Now I understand the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ is also going to close parishes. Yes, its sad. Some are so beautiful and were built by the immigrints themselves.

Lawrence,

Teachings are secondary to Faith in Christ. The Samaritan Woman at the well was also not up to par, but Jesus did not chase her away. The woman caught in adultery was also not chased away. The only ones who left were the sinners who failed to throw a stone. The Roman Centurion probably did not have the catechetical knowledge of the learned rabbi, but he did have a greater faith than all Israel (per Jesus himself).

Forget the Catechism lectures. What that woman needed was something more than being shown an exit door. If Christian charity was always that good, then who would want the faith and the teachings that follow its footpath?

Joe

Hritzko wrote:

Just a clarification...

The current Archbishop of Boston is not a Cardinal.

Perhaps what we are seeing in the Church is the work of the Vine grower:

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned." (John 5:1-6)

This was a portion of the Gospel for the 7th Paschal Monday, and the theme of our just finished Clergy Conference for the Eparchy of Van Nuys. Interestingly, the "taking away" of the non-fruit bearing branches and the "pruning" of the fruitbearing branches both involve "pain", i.e., a cutting of the vine. The pain the Church is currently undergoing will get rid of the "dead branches" and allow the Church to get back to her Root and bear much fruit.