Boston cardinal reshuffles parishes to meet priest shortage

[Jetavan]

(RNS) Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley on Thursday (Nov. 15) launched an ambitious, five-year plan to consolidate local parish leadership and reinvigorate an archdiocese rocked by scandal, declining Mass attendance and a chronic shortage of priests.

Starting with a first phase in January, O'Malley's "Disciples in Mission" initiative will reorganize the archdiocese’s 288 parishes into 135 “collaboratives,” or clusters of two, three or four parishes headed by a single pastor. Other clergy and staff from local parishes will be reoriented to serve entire collaboratives. By 2016, every parish will be part of a collaborative.
....
As collaboratives launch, parishes will operate as centers for the New Evangelization. This involves confronting secularization and emphasizing the need for “ongoing conversion” in the lives of Catholics. Each collaborative will develop a plan for identifying candidates for the priesthood, praying with them and mentoring them to accept vocations.

[Papist]

The following posts:
This is because of the filioque, the papacy, purgatory, the immaculate conception, and scholasticism. 

[Jetavan]

Is the Roman Catholic Church experiencing changes not seen since Trent?

[pmpn8rGPT]

strange stuff...

[biro]

Is the Roman Catholic Church experiencing changes not seen since Trent?

No.

[Peter J]

Is the Roman Catholic Church experiencing changes not seen since Trent?

Like what?

[Jetavan]

Is the Roman Catholic Church experiencing changes not seen since Trent?

Like what?

Shortage of priests, e.g.

[VarangianGuard]

Is the Roman Catholic Church experiencing changes not seen since Trent?

No.

I believe VaticanII would be more correct 

[choy]

Sadly the Roman Catholic Church is becoming less of a personal and community experience for people and more of an institution that dispenses Sacraments.  One priest serving 3-4 parishes?  Good luck him knowing every parishioner.

[Peter J]

Is the Roman Catholic Church experiencing changes not seen since Trent?

Like what?

Shortage of priests, e.g.

Not sure if I understand you. Are you saying that priest shortages are new thing?

[Jetavan]

Is the Roman Catholic Church experiencing changes not seen since Trent?

Like what?

Shortage of priests, e.g.

Not sure if I understand you. Are you saying that priest shortages are new thing?

The shortage might lead to some new practices.

[Justin Kolodziej]

Sadly the Roman Catholic Church is becoming less of a personal and community experience for people and more of an institution that dispenses Sacraments.  One priest serving 3-4 parishes?  Good luck him knowing every parishioner.

You have nailed it.

Or else, like here in the South, there is one parish, 4 priests, 4000 (registered) families.

Is the Roman Catholic Church experiencing changes not seen since Trent?

Like what?

Shortage of priests, e.g.

Not sure if I understand you. Are you saying that priest shortages are new thing?

The shortage might lead to some new practices.

Already is. Our daughter was baptized by a deacon.

[JoeS2]

The following posts:
This is because of the filioque, the papacy, purgatory, the immaculate conception, and scholasticism. 

The vocation of priesthood at one time was a prime goal of many young Catholic males in High School.   I can remember the priests visiting from different orders, eg Fransciscan, Dominican, Diocesan, Benedictines, and some Brothers giving seminars to us about the joys of being a priest and what good they do for their flocks.   I was wondering if this is still done in Catholic High Schools of late?    Shortages like this can be the result of modern technology and a larger vocational choices that were not available when I was younger.  Any guesses?

[Jetavan]

When Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley announced Nov. 15 a pastoral plan for reorganizing his archdiocese's 288 parishes, many breathed a sigh of relief. The plan he described omitted two dreaded words -- church closings.

Rather, "Disciples in Mission" calls for reorganizing the 288 parishes into 135 collaboratives: groupings of one to four parishes led by one pastor, a pastoral team, and single finance and pastoral councils.
....
The plan will play out in four phases over five years, with the first-phase collaboratives, around 15 in all, to be announced in early January 2013. Pastor assignments will come in March, and the collaboratives will be formally inaugurated July 1. At the beginning of 2014, a pastor-appointed team at each collaborative will begin writing the local pastoral plan, expected to take a year to complete.

Factors influencing collaboratives include geography, demographics, and past working relationships among parishes, in addition to meeting minimum targets of 1,600 parishioners per priest (the national average, but almost double Boston's current average), and an offertory of $500,000 -- half of which is expected to cover staffing costs.

"I think that we're at a critical moment in the life of the church in the United States, and in Boston in particular," Soper said. "It's really something of a turning point."

Moving from a "one-pastor, one-parish" model to "one-pastor, multiple-parishes" is a significant step, said Capuchin Fr. David Couturier, who headed pastoral planning from May 2009 to May 2012, but has since left the office.

"This puts the relationship of priest to people in a very new light," he said, adding that it will present Boston's 300-plus priests with new challenges while increasing their responsibilities.

I haven't heard of any other US diocese doing this sort of "collaborativization".

[Justin Kolodziej]

When Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley announced Nov. 15 a pastoral plan for reorganizing his archdiocese's 288 parishes, many breathed a sigh of relief. The plan he described omitted two dreaded words -- church closings.

Rather, "Disciples in Mission" calls for reorganizing the 288 parishes into 135 collaboratives: groupings of one to four parishes led by one pastor, a pastoral team, and single finance and pastoral councils.
....
The plan will play out in four phases over five years, with the first-phase collaboratives, around 15 in all, to be announced in early January 2013. Pastor assignments will come in March, and the collaboratives will be formally inaugurated July 1. At the beginning of 2014, a pastor-appointed team at each collaborative will begin writing the local pastoral plan, expected to take a year to complete.

Factors influencing collaboratives include geography, demographics, and past working relationships among parishes, in addition to meeting minimum targets of 1,600 parishioners per priest (the national average, but almost double Boston's current average), and an offertory of $500,000 -- half of which is expected to cover staffing costs.

"I think that we're at a critical moment in the life of the church in the United States, and in Boston in particular," Soper said. "It's really something of a turning point."

Moving from a "one-pastor, one-parish" model to "one-pastor, multiple-parishes" is a significant step, said Capuchin Fr. David Couturier, who headed pastoral planning from May 2009 to May 2012, but has since left the office.

"This puts the relationship of priest to people in a very new light," he said, adding that it will present Boston's 300-plus priests with new challenges while increasing their responsibilities.

I haven't heard of any other US diocese doing this sort of "collaborativization".

On the contrary, this sounds like what the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis is doing (multiple parishes, one pastor, some shared staff) in preparation for merging parishes later on. They called it "clustering" and usually that ends up turning into a merge, so then you have one parish with one pastor and 3 churches or more.

[Cyrillic]

The following posts:
This is because of the filioque, the papacy, purgatory, the immaculate conception, and scholasticism. 

The vocation of priesthood at one time was a prime goal of many young Catholic males in High School.   I can remember the priests visiting from different orders, eg Fransciscan, Dominican, Diocesan, Benedictines, and some Brothers giving seminars to us about the joys of being a priest and what good they do for their flocks.   I was wondering if this is still done in Catholic High Schools of late?    Shortages like this can be the result of modern technology and a larger vocational choices that were not available when I was younger.  Any guesses?

No. Everything's liberal now. I can now, I'm in a Roman Catholic high school and last friday they wanted everyone to come in purple to show their tolerance for "homosexuality".  Tolerance for "homosexuality", not "homosexuals" but "homosexuality", that's what the letter said. Needless to say I went in orange that day.

[Justin Kolodziej]

    
Who was it that said something like  "If you want your kids to defend their faith, send them to public school. If you want your kids to lose their faith, send them to a Catholic school"? Archbishop Fulton Sheen?

[username!]

The following posts:
This is because of the filioque, the papacy, purgatory, the immaculate conception, and scholasticism. 

Actually it is because of demographic shifting.

The one city an hour from here shut down four parishes ( Deacon Lance might remember better than I) and made them into one.  All were within a block or two of each other.

[Nephi]

Sadly the Roman Catholic Church is becoming less of a personal and community experience for people and more of an institution that dispenses Sacraments.  One priest serving 3-4 parishes?  Good luck him knowing every parishioner.

This reminded me of a couple things I noticed when I first attended a local RC church for Mass, and I don't mean these comments as an attack on the RCC but as observations.

When it was almost over, there was the call to do hymn(s) as the service came to a close. I thought it was over because so many people left at that point, but my friend and I stayed and we ended up being there another few minutes for the final hymn(s). I noticed that even people that were altar servers up and left at this point.

Afterward, the priest stood at the door waving and saying bye as everyone walked straight out and and got in their cars and left. There was no parishioner-priest, or even parishioner-parishioner, interaction at all.

At the time, this priest was over two parishes. Now the four local RC parishes have had to schedule to share the same two priests since the third one got relocated.

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