The Archbishop Wellington, New Zealand, John Dew has announced a major organisation of the parishes in the Archdiocese.
Some parishes will merge to create a new parish. All parish churches will be retained.
The parish mergers will be implemented over a period of two years and will be completed no later that 1 February 2016.
Before making his decision Archbishop John worked with a focus group that he appointed two years ago.
With the focus group he drew up a series of proposals which from May through August 2013 were taken to parishes and pastoral areas for a broad-based consultation.
Hundreds of people have taken part in discussions and consultations relating to the document. Archbishop John says “the responses bear the results of deep reflection and fervent prayer, for which I am very grateful. It is very clear that the discussions were accompanied by a sense of excitement and with great energy and passion, which are wonderful gifts to bring to the life of the Church.”
“This is not an easy time for the Archdiocese. We face unprecedented challenges. We could ignore them and refuse to change, but change is in the very nature of things. Not to change is to stagnate and die. What helps us, of course, is that we know God is with us,” say Archbishop John.
Click here for PDF version of the Promulgating Booklet and Appendices
Source
Related Posts:
- A Future Full of Hope - Future parishes and pastoral areas.
- Number-of-Catholic-parishes-set-to-halve of Catholic parishes set to halve
News category: New Zealand, Top Story.
