Whenever a diocese announces a round of significant parish closings, I see a number of Catholics online making commentary about the current bishop.
However, it is very rare that the current bishop is primarily to blame. I think we should unite to fix the longer-term issues behind parish closings rather than just critique current bishops.
There are two main groups of reasons parishes close. These are demographic reasons and reasons that we, as Catholics, are more to blame for. There are a few less common reasons that I will skip. And bishops can be too slow or too aggressive in closing parishes, which is a whole other question.
Any parish closing is somewhat sad, as that history is lost. My community has decided to sell the boarding school building where I did my final vows. I won’t be able to go there again. Parishes have similar things: remembering weddings, baptisms, etc.
However, of the two main causes, I think the second is much sadder for the Church. (I am dealing here with the US and English-speaking Canada; I am not familiar enough with other places to speak with any authority.)
Parishes that close due to demography
Some parishes no longer have enough Catholics to support them, relatively independent of the Church’s actions. I can think of three main types, but there are others.
- Ethnic parishes where the (great) grandkids of those who built it go to non-ethnic parishes if they are practicing Catholics. Further generations living here want to identify more as Americans or Canadians rather than wherever their ancestors came from. You can see this actively happening in the Church by how later-generation Hispanics often prefer to speak English over Spanish. As a priest, I would hear Confessions during Spanish-language catechesis at a parish, and more than half would prefer to confess in English (I speak both). The same thing happened in the past with other nationalities.
- Some parishes have population collapses. For example, a mine closes, farms mechanize and now only need a third as many people as in 1950, or neighborhoods are abandoned in a city. The parish simply has fewer people in its boundaries than before.
- Finally, in the demographic group are parishes where the ethnic makeup radically changes. These are most often in cities. We know that a higher percentage of certain nationalities are Catholic. Ideally, we’d convert everyone, but it also makes sense to reduce parishes if an area goes from 95% Italian to 95% Chinese over a few decades. Occasionally, parishes can adjust: St. Therese Chinese mission in Chicago used to be in an Italian neighborhood (it has a statute donated by Al Capone’s mom praying for her son’s conversion). However, conversion of a large portion of a new nationality can rarely happen enough to avoid reducing three neighborhood parishes to one or similar.
These are sad for the local people, but populations change for non-Church-related reasons—and parishes should change to reflect the local population.
Parishes that close because of our failures
Two factors showing a decline in Catholicism are often causes for parishes to close: lack of practice and lack of priestly vocations. How can we maintain a parish if we have few attending and/or lack the priests to cover it?
This is much sadder for us as it shows our failure as a Church. We must reflect on how we failed in these areas, and on how to avoid these issues in the future.
Both are long-term issues, not something that can be solved in 5 or 10 years. Thus, it is more the duty of the whole diocese over the past 60 years than of the bishop who has only been here a bit.
Priestly Vocations
For example, most priests in active ministry in 2026 entered the seminary between about 1970 and 2017. The current priestly vocations of the diocese depend on the health of the diocese in those years, and few active bishops were bishops of their current diocese for even 10 of those 47 years. Even if a bishop has 20 men enter the seminary this year, it will be almost a decade before they are ordained.
Some propose that we just keep stretching priests, but that is bad in the long-term, as it makes them burn out and counteracts promoting vocations to the priesthood. Constantly burnt-out priests present a poor image to attract young men to the priesthood.
Parish Attendance
Likewise, with parish attendance. Here I refer to people no longer practicing Catholicism or leaving the Church. This has been a slow decline over many decades, not a big drop at one moment. (There have been some moments of steeper drop, as during the 2002 abuse crisis and many places not returning to pre-COVID numbers after it, but I know of no diocese where numbers just fell off a cliff due to the current bishop compared to prior decades.)
Most parishes closed for low participation had low participation for a decade or more before, usually before the current bishop. The overall pattern of attendance has dropped over decades.
How many are at Mass is the responsibility of all of us Catholics. Our baptism calls us to evangelize. To put that all on bishops ignores our responsibility as the Body of Christ. We should all be encouraging people to become Catholic and non-practicing Catholics to become practicing.
Yes, ordination gives me or a bishop more responsibility here, but we can’t do it alone. We need to collaborate over decades.
Conclusion
I think bishops have made imprudent decisions in the US and Canada. So, this essay is by no means a defense of those decisions. However, usually parish closings refer to issues that are outside the Church’s control or largely predate the current bishop. Let’s try to be charitable with bishops in this tough spot. If we all work with bishops taking these hard steps, we can often emerge in a better place for the Church.
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This article makes several good points. In baseball, if a pitcher leaves the game with the bases loaded, and the following batter hits a grand slam off the relief pitcher, the three runs that score ahead of the hitter are charged to the pitcher who put them on base, not the relief pitcher who gave up the grand slam.
One approach that might help here is to avoid making the sort of wholesale changes that make headlines, such as going from 218 to 128 parishes in one fell swoop. If the changes are made more gradually with sufficient individual justification, they will seem less dramatic.
Another problem is that with billions of dollars being paid to settle sex abuse lawsuits under completely opaque terms with no accountability whatsoever, the faithful understandably start to think that parishes are being closed regardless of the financial health and spiritual of the parish simply to raise money by selling real estate, regardless of any protestations to the contrary from the bishop.
Another reason for parish closings sometimes has to do with over-zealousness in opening parishes in the first place. Bishops actually like to be remembered as builders, not sellers, and some arguably went overboard in building. Jesrey City, New Jersey once had two parishes whose church buildings were contiguous on the same city block. I once drove through a rather small Midwestern village that had six Catholic churches all located within a few blocks of one another.
Ultimately, though, if we all evangelize to bring in converts and keep those otherwise weak in their faith from drifting out the door, closing parishes won’t be necessary. As one author put it some years ago, this is the price of failure.
Thank you Father Matthew for being a priest and serving God and his people. I can agree with your assessment and add that the Pope can also be a great asset or detriment.
Let us pray for the Church and Pope Leo and always remember the words of our Lord;”And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” Mt 16:18
Amen
When couples choose to have only one or two children (or none), where are the new priests supposed to come from?
Africa.
🙂
Accent is a significant issue, when the sinners in the pews can’t understand the message. (bits and pieces)
It wasn’t always easy to understand accents when many priests came from Ireland.
Interesting and relevant.
It can get better in time.
🙂
But yes, we have had one or two visiting priests from Africa that were a bit difficult to follow. Sometimes where they come from in Africa can make a difference.
New priests come from the children God gives us in His wisdom.
And the children that we accept. God has provided many children that were then lost to feticide.
Jesus and John the Baptist (happy and blessed nativity!) are only children. Both have hidden home lives. Both arrive on the scene in the Gospel much later in their adult lives than a high school or college seminarian.
Both had parents who did not employ contraception or abortion, but who willingly and generously welcomed children into their homes.I don’t think most of the 1-2 child families in the Church are due to a vow of chastity or infertility – and the reason makes a big difference in the formation of the children.
I thought Jesus amazed the elders in the temple while he was young?
Traditionalists and those who lean toward being trad.
And then there’s cost.
Nuns were replaced by laity with salary and retirement expectations. So, the loss of vocations for both priests and especially nuns, in the turmoil after the Second Vatican Council. And, even more generally, a lost appreciation for “vocations” (what’s that?) of all kinds including the vocation of marriage.
Cultural meltdown and devaluation of families. The ambience of a sacral or religious or grounded universe has evaporated. “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3). Maybe data-dump AI has a fix…
One issue with getting family people to mass are the two full time parents, then sports on Saturday. Perhaps they view Sundays as their only downtime?
And children’s sports on Sundays…
Mass is part of the “downtime”.
Who is usually to blame for parish closings?
I don’t recall parish closings before the recent past.
Having marinated in the post-conciliar epoch now for sixty years we have witnessed the collapse of Catholic education, vocations to the priesthood, religious life — contemplative and apostolic, monasticism and now, PARISHES.
Who needed the protestant revolt, or communism?
I wonder what we can attribute this to, without besmirching the reputation of any member, high or low, of the episcopate? We wouldn’t want to hold accountable anyone of episcopal rank would we? That would be a sin.
Far, far beyond time to lay the blame at the feet of men [and not a few women religious] who have engineered, some quite deliberately, some with the heads in the sand, others unashamedly cowards, for the deconstruction of the Roman Catholic Church.
Do the job now of a critical reckoning and correct course or begone…but that will not happen.
Synodalism is the answer? More accurately the undertaker.
Life is sweet at the top.
Powerful testimony. True.
And life persists and will continue at the bottom. Only to rise up when God decrees. Rest assured.
13th paragraph of this op-es state it is “more the duty of the whole diocese of the past 60 years…” WHAT significant thing happened 60+ years ago before we had rapid info available to us? Those IN authority of the Church decided Vatican ll (which it did NOT in all reality ONCE we were able to actually have that document readily availlable to the laity) that BIG CHANGES were needed. How did that bode for the Church? Not well! We had all sorts of Liturgical Abuses within the Mass, and the Sactuaries, to “modernize.” THAT was not the fault of the Laity incorrectly interpretring Vatican ll—those changes came from the hierarchy of each parish, each diocese some 60 years ago, USING that Vat ll Council as a springboard of their own interpretation and WE laity had to go along with it; we tried to stop the “fixing of what was not broke” and have been trying to straighten the sinking ship on our own, often. And the clergy that honestly try to rectify things? Often they are put “out to sea” so the blame in my opinion falls upon those in authority in each local church wanting to do things their way & used Vat ll as the stepping stone—we laity didnt have privy to that document then!
Amen Veronicas.
A lot of things were going on 60 plus years ago. Widely available contraceptives was one. More people abandoning urban communities & parishes for the suburbs was another.
How do you maintain a large parish church when the original population’s gone & there’s no subsequent Catholic parishoners to maintain it? I think it’s totally tragic but there are a number of beautiful urban church buildings abandoned today. Some going to wrack & ruin. I don’t know what the answer is.
I do. Make the abandoned grand Churches centers for the Latin Mass. They’ll be filled in no time.
But I wonder if Rome got wind of this plan, they might send a wrecking ball strategically timed. “Kill two birds….”
Using the abandoned churches for the TLM could be a very good idea, Mr. Baker. Thank you. And perhaps it would encourage donors to help in the restoration?
I’ve seen photos of beautiful abandoned churches online & it’s just heartbreaking to see them fall into ruin.
Amen!
In all the parishes where I have lived, there never was a parish ‘outreach’ program initiated by and with the Pastor. We took our parishes for granted. For one thing, we should have taken a page from the manuals of the many apostolic Protestants who even go house to house.
The Legion of Mary does this. The pastor’s permission and a handful of willing and committed people are all that is necessary to start a group at a parish.
Amanda,
I belonged to the Legion of Mary for over five years in two different parishes. Although the visiting of homes forms a core of the apostolate as originally formulated, neither parish priests nor deacons agreed to let Legion members do that.
They claimed they needed us as Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Eucharist to the homebound, nursing home and assisted living facilities. That is what they gave permission for us to do.
Personally, I yearned to knock on doors and visit people in their homes. With two Legion members doing the work, travelling in twos as Jesus suggested, I had no fear and felt that would be a good thing….this was some twenty years ago. I cannot help but see the social isolation as much greater now than then, and the loss of the sense of faith much greater now too.
P.S.: I add something not quite but tangentially germane. In Feb. 2020, I ministered in a nursing home in Issaquah, Washington. The home had had a serious number of “flu” cases the previous month so we were urged to use extra hand-washing and hygiene measures. In Feb. or March of that 2020, Covid was found in a few residents in the US, and some of the earliest cases were in the nursing home in which my son and I ministered.
Two of some fifteen Catholic residents to whom I distributed Holy Communion died the week after my last visit prior to implementation of state-enforced pandemic quarantine rules. The DOH notified me that my son and I had been exposed.
I was certain I would not wake up on any of the 14 days which followed…since the alarm was so great surrounding ease of transmission. One very sick resident (actually a religious order sister) had a great cough, and I was in her personal space for about 15 minutes, so I definitely was exposed to her droplets. I had great affection for her. She passed a week after my visit. Covid was given as the cause.
I did not become ill. My disabled son whose immune system is weak and who had accompanied me on that visit to that sister, also did not fall ill.
Were my son and I protected because of the nature of our ministry? Was the lethality of Covid overblown? Some combination of the two? In any event, I conclusively realized that a Christian death is nothing to fear. When the Lord calls, we answer.
“Was the lethality of Covid overblown?”
The average person who died from COVID had something like 3.5 comorbidities. If you were an octogenarian with hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure and renal insufficiency, you probably didn’t do well with COVID.
I am personally aware of a centenarian who contracted it in a nursing home, had mild enough symptoms to be thought to be a cold and recovered within a week. The individual died of old age two months later.
Of course this makes us wonder why former Governors Cuomo (NY) and Wolf (PA) ordered nursing homes to admit COVID patients. Almost all infectious diseases are disproportionately severe in elderly populations, and those two monsters unleashed the bug in a target rich environment.
You are 100% correct.
Let us also ask why our bishops began closing, rather, LOCKING, church doors. The bishop of the Seattle Archdiocese earned the award for being the FIRST in the US to lock Catholics out of Mass and out of THEIR (not HIS) churches. Are such bishops idiots with IQs below 90!?? Apparently so. Or is there another explanation? Let us pray.
Covid highlighted how out of shape Americans are. Your fat is one part of you that somehow affects your immunity, so overweight people could contract it, which I did. I was working in Bismarck and went to Sunday mass at St. Mary’s. It was interesting there were entire pews of people with no masks, and they did not appear the least worried about it. Other people had masks on but they weren’t required and no one faced off anyone without a mask. The only announcement they had was to not linger after mass, but to leave promptly. Those people with no masks looked like they worked for a living in the oil fields or agriculture and were thus active.
During Covid, no one from our parish reached out to us The Jehovah Witnesses called to make sure we were okay. Would it have hurt our parish priest to make a few calls?
Same thing here Wendy. Minus the Jehovah Witnesses.
On item overlooked are the number of punitive awards against the Church as a result of the aberrant sexual behavior that the Administrative Church contended was in the beginning was marketed as no big deal, no financial threat that compromised moral authority of the Church, that the modern is now attempting to legitimize to some degree to get in step with the times.
The first vocational crisis was in teaching orders of nuns. These crucial Faith witnesses sustained Catholic primary schools. They set a tone of faith and boosted vocations to the priesthood. As their numbers declined so did the number of schools. Tuition costs when up when lay teachers replaced them. A vital pre-k to 8 network leading to Catholic secondary schools is vital, not an alternative to thriving parishes.
More than a century ago, bishops in the United States adopted the Standard business model still utilized in the secular world today.
Though they weren’t of the world, they worked incredibly hard to look just like it.
That model worked until the consequences of Vatican II, for good or for ill, became manifest in lower Mass attendance, loss of vocations, et al. This reality became the loss of income coupled with the loss of key personnel to the point that century-old parishes could no longer be sustained.
To that, add the financial bloodletting caused by sodomality brought about by homosexuals among the ranks of clergy.
What we are witnessing in our time is the collapse of the aforementioned business model.
I have argued for more deacons for the archdiocese of Seattle as part of its own “Partners in the Gospel” effort to place the burden of responsibly for mass parish closings on the parishioners. Just take a look at what’s happening in Michigan.
If I were a bishop, I would work exceedingly hard to ensure that each parish in my diocese had at least two permanent deacons.
Yet, this suggestion did not make the top 100 suggestions generated by “partners in the Gospel” work sessions.
This while the archbishop is surrounded by a highly-paid retinue of advisors whose primary and sole objective is to remain highly-paid.
The business model will inevitably collapse, probably sooner rather than later.
The pieces to be picked up will fall upon the laity, by building up of communities where mutual support and cooperation come first and foremost. Priests will return to “riding the circuit” as they are able to organize themselves in the aftermath.
Catholicism will continue, but as Pope Benedict XVI said, we will be pretty much starting over from scratch (see Acts of the Apostles).
While it is true that a bishop who’s been at a diocese only a few years is not going to be able to have much affect on Mass attendance that has been declining for decades. However, bishops are not mere managers of resources. They have teaching authority and the ability to offer sactifice. And that comes with the obligation to USE IT, for the good (not the blissful ignorance) of the souls in their care.
For most bishops, the only public teaching on the importance of the Mass obligation for Sundays and Holy Days has been to cancel Mass or move the Holy Day to Sunday. Maybe, just maybe, their words and actions could have an affect on the behavior of those committed to their care. Possibly a refusal to move the obligation, coupled with publicly offering Mass in reparation for the mortal sin of skipping Mass in their diocese could effect actual change, over time. Possibly they could have an effect in regard to abortion and contraception use among Catholics as well, if they were to talk about it clearly, boldly, publicly, and repeatedly.
It’s not like it’s ALL the bishops’ fault. Every Catholic should know and fulfill their obligations, even without reminders from bishops. But there’s certainly much bishops could do, and should do, as fathers, and aren’t.
Amanda, the only homily I preached on abortion received an almost univeral applause at a Sunday 8 AM Mass. At the 10 AM Mass where I gave the same homily, there was a standing ovation and long applause (let me be clear, I do not encourage or approve of applauding any homily).
Good for you & God bless you Deacon Edward.
🙂
I’m not surprised, as abortion is the least popular, relative to skipping Mass and using contraception. I would be very surprised if you got a standing ovation for discussing the grave matter of skipping Mass at a Christmas or Easter Mass, or for discussing contraception use as something that prevents reception of Holy Communion in a parish with a lot of small families.
Amanda, I bet that if clergy preached on Church teaching regarding contraception it would get a stir. But, then again, maybe we all need a good stir. Contraception is the elephant in the living room (or, should I say the bedroom).
I’m sure some parishes need to hear about abortion, but not all do. Sounds like yours is solid on that, very good. There are probably also a few that don’t need contraception preached on, or the Sunday obligation.
The priestly vocational crisis was directly caused by increasing visibility and the promotion of homosexuality in seminaries. When you have so many limp-wristed males around who want to hit on you, heterosexual (normal) males aren’t likely to stick around.
Let’s do a walk down memory lane. In the 60’s and 70’s, rectories were emptying by droves of men leaving the priesthood to get married. Whom did that leave behind? A great number of homosexual priests. What heterosexual (normal) young man is going to feel comfortable and want to be around girly males? You got it- few if any. From whose ranks were bishops chosen in the 80’s and 90’s and since? That’s correct: priests who numbers included a large cohort of homosexuals – either active or sympathetic toward homosexuality.
When I was appointed by the Diocesan Administrator (we were in-between bishops) to the vocations board for my diocese, I was instrumental in enlisting Dr. Fitzgibbons from PA to administer psychological evaluations of candidates. Among other things, he included in his evaluation the candidate’s sexual orientation. When the new bishop came in, he disbanded the board and Fitzgibbbons was sent packing.
Mother Miriam (Mother Miriam Live) has called on bishops to lead a massive knocking on all the doors in a diocese to invite people back to church (lapsed Catholcs) and new people to Church before they would closd a single church. To date, I’m not aware of one bishop who has done this. While the points listed in the article are valid, the lack of current bishops engaging in a massive evangelism effort before closing parishes is on them. Many communities of closed parishes will likely suffer long-term because of this.
I think that’s a very good idea, Mr. Bray.
A former pastor floated something like that to our parish several years ago but he found no interest. Plus people told him they were scared of getting shot knocking on some doors. He said he’d been successful in another parish where every other house had a meth lab. Our neighborhood’s pretty tame compared to that but parishoners were still uneasy with the idea.
What? Are really asking the shepherds to pursue the lost sheep? You want them to act like cold calling salesmen? That’s demeaning or at least difficult.
Surely you know that is below their station. Nothing must interfere with periodic USCCB meetings-the echo chamber rules-and drafting missives on civic and political matters.
Go ahead keep it up. You’ll make McElroy angry, and you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry (no he won’t turn green and smash things like Dr. Banner, he’s red through and through and is too busy smashing doctrine), but you don’t want to incur his ire.
I cannot believe the comments here. Ridiculous. Why are Catholics, especially Priests refusing to look and address the real problem as to why Catholics are not attending Mass. Celibacy. When we go to Mass , we like to see a family leading the Mass. How can someone who has ndver been married help a married couple with counseling etc. Its a Bad Joke. The first Pope was married and marriage was common for Priests until somewhere around the year 1200. The Catholic church was busting at the seems with Parishioners. Now we all know what happens to human beings when put in a cage (Celibacy). They no longer know the “Love for their own child”. And therefore cannot feel the “Love for our Children” Didnt Jesus refer to an abuser of a child be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck. The Church is accepting of Gay Priests for one reason only. They wont have any children the Church will have to pay to support. And when Priests die and leave children behind, the Church wont be dragged into court to support those children. If the Church would allow Priests to marry and have children. People and Families would come back in a hurry. Because people are really searching for a safe place to raise their children. Thats why Islam is replacing Christianity. The Catholic Church is single handedly destroying Christianity. If you attend Grace Fellowship Church and other non-denominational churchs, you will see all kinds of children enjoying the service. How many kids do we see at our Mass, maybe 1 to 3???. You can argue that even the Protestants or Non-denominational nhmbers are down somewhat as well. But thats because all Christian Religions are being tarred with the same brush, The Catholic Church is responsible for with its opportunity to abuse. Now having said that. Abuse is likely rampant among the Muslims with their Doctrine as well. But for now “My Fellow Catholics” lets keep our own side of the street clean please!!!
All Western seminaries are seeing fewer candidates. Protestant & Catholic alike. On the other hand, African seminaries have scores of candidates & are forced to turn some away because of lack of funding.
It’s more a faith & commitment issue in the West than a celibacy issue.
People aren’t committing to marriage today either.
“And when Priests die and leave children behind, the Church wont be dragged into court to support those children.”
As if Joe D never heard of life insurance.
Joe D: Protestants have married “clergy” and their numbers are in free-fall. No, celibacy isn’t the problem, selfishness is.
Thank you Deacon Edward. Sacrifice and commitment are in shorter supply today. It’s not just a Catholic problem.
Nah. Those ‘seems’ in the catacombs were not busting.
Have you gotten everything off our chest?
Anything else in Catholic World you need to rant on?
I agree with you Father Schneider, if parishoners are not involved in their parish, sending their children to parish schools and celebrating the sacraments as often as they are offered, who can blame a Bishop for selling the unused real estate?
I read this “essay”, reflected and postponed my comment. With prayers, meditation and humility, I would start with our Lord Jesus teaching (Matt 7:3) “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye”. I am almost 87 years old and I have not done enough in my younger years to keep the parishes I joined alive and vibrant. I was too quick to be discouraged by the behaviour and attitude of the “clergy”, bishops and priests. It would take too long to recount my recurrent disappointments. On each occasion, I quietly withdrew, afraid to cause divisions and scandals, and observed with sadness the deterioration of the institution. i would come back, offering my services, and a similar scenario would repeat itself.In reading the “Acts of the Apostles” (6:2-4) “So the twelves called together the community of the disciples and said, It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table. Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filed with the spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”. I came to wish this model of governance be implemented in our days, with the clergy, like the Apostles devoting themselves to “prayer and the ministry of the word”, leaving leaving the temporal leadership to “select” members of the community to care for the maintenance and growth of the parish-diocese. This leadership would alert Bishops, Priests, doctors, lawyers, accountants, carpenters, teachers, electricians, plumbers…parishioners of specific competence to where they could help, and create a community that evangelise by its simple existence.
What you have written in self reflection is beautiful. I can tell the Spirit has graced you through your fervent prayers. May I say your age brings you wisdom. Your parish needs your wisdom now. Your presence at Mass is a gift of God if you can make it physically.
Thank you. My chronological age has not yet been translated into a disability. I still garden and take 4 to 6 mile walks. (Good time to meditate on the day’s readings)