The problem is urgent, as what worked in the past when there were plenty of priests doesn't work today.

"We cannot expect things to change if we always do the same thing" says Archbishop Luis Argüello.

"To have different results, you have to do different things" he added.

The challenge

• Only 16 percent of people live in rural areas. Over 80 percent of Spanish municipalities are rural. Most people are Catholic. There are churches serving tiny populations everywhere.
• Priestly vocations are declining. Castile's nine dioceses have 1,505 priests, but only 39 seminarians.
• Priests' average age is close to 70 years.
• Rural parish life could become little more than the occasional celebration of the Eucharist when the priest serves several communities.

"It's very tiring, life is hard. How can priests of those ages serve 10 or 15 towns? And some younger ones serve people from as many as 40 small villages" one says.

The priest shortage means one priest celebrates Mass on Sundays in the two or three places he can, then another two or three communities get Mass the next Sunday.

He also travels to villages when people die and for patron saint festivals.

Fr Jorge González Guadalix of the Archdiocese of Madrid says he is more in favour of celebrating the Eucharist once a month in smaller communities than promoting other options such as lay-led liturgies.

González says it doesn't matter if the neighbouring Church is just 4km away - people want their church, with its saints, altarpiece and community.

Forming pastoral teams

Pastoral teams based in somewhat larger towns from which other villages are served are working elsewhere in Spain.

This means that although a priest remains canonically responsible for 30 villages, he isn't managing alone.

The ‘pastoral units'—composed of priests and religious—would care for the little towns and their seasonal population changes.

Castile's expanding dormitory communities would also benefit from the pastoral units. Established close to cities, these communities typically have more young people and migrant populations.

Lay-led Sundays

Increasing lay-or deacon-led Sunday celebrations of the Word is another option.

The Vatican's Dicastery for Clergy and the Congregation for Divine Worship is not keen. It "blurs the figure of the priest and makes people used to living the faith without priests" a priest says.

He says many already feel the church doors are always closed or that there is no contact with the priest. Fewer people participate in the Church's ministry because there is a feeling of abandonment.

Centralising Mass (but it doesn't work)

It is possible to centralise the Mass in regions with slightly larger populations. However Catholics haven't warmed to this idea. They like their local community where they are known and don't want to travel to Mass.

For González, it is a matter of putting his eyes on God first, reaching out to the people and evangelising with all the means available.

Source

• The Pillar

The southern Diocese of Roermond wrote to its parishes last week to encourage some to periodically skip Mass, spokesman Matheu Bemelmans said on Thursday.

"Finances cannot be a dominant factor, but we cannot ignore them either. If you have only a handful of people each donating a euro, that's not enough to cover the heating bill," Bemelmans said.

Most Dutch households and companies rely on gas for heating.

Prices soared 90% in the year to August, driving inflation to more than 13% in the Netherlands. This increase reflects similar sharp increases throughout Europe since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

But it is not only the rising energy costs that has driven the diocese to reduce the number of religious services it will offer. A shortfall in the number of clergy is also a factor.

The number of churchgoers and priests has been on the decline in the Netherlands for some time.

Between 2014 and 2020, the number of Catholic priests living in the Netherlands decreased from 723 in 2014 to 610 in 2020.

The decline in priests is matched by a decrease in the general Catholic population. The Catholic Church in the Netherlands lost around 1.5 million members in the last two decades.

"Sometimes it's simply not possible to find a priest to give a service at every church, every weekend," Bemelmans said. "If there are churches with only a few visitors, we are saying: be practical and skip a week and ensure those people can follow Mass at another church."

In the letter addressed to the parishes of the diocese, the vicar general René Maessen decreed that, because of a lack of celebrants, the weekly Eucharistic celebration is no longer obligatory.

Maessen points out that parishes should make this decision only if they have no other choice. Since such an initiative is almost always irreversible, it can be seen as a first step towards closing a church.

The diocese, which oversees roughly 290 churches in the province of Limburg, expects the measure to initially affect 10-15 churches.

Sources

Reuters

Statista

The way Catholics live out their faith is what's important, he says. They should trust in God, who always loves and blesses them. They should also try to bring divine love to people around them.

"We should try our best to promote charity work and give witness to the faith in our daily lives," he explained during a pastoral visit to four tiny parishes last week.

"Evangelisation does not mean to do major things but to live a good and simple life."

Build happy families, offer faith education to children, be honest in your livelihood, stay clear of drug abuse and treat drug abusers with love and respect.

Thien is the first archbishop to have visited one of the sub-parishes for a century or more. Welcomed with drums and trumpets, the 160-member Catholic community swelled so much that Thien had to celebrate an open-air Mass: the church was too small to accommodate the hundreds of visitors.

He praised the local people for properly maintaining their faith during decades of hard times and for producing a priest. This is despite hardships such as when their part of Vietnam was under communist control, the land reform system, religious restrictions and the Vietnam War were the order of the day.

"We come here to profess the faith and I am here to encourage all of you to be brave in your life of faith," he said.

Thien's pastoral visits are part of this year's archdiocese-wide programme for "year of evangelisation".

Other plans include introducing the Legion of Mary at parishes. Thien is calling on all parishes to have the Marian association do evangelisation work.

Hanoi Archdiocese, serves 330,000 Catholics out of a population of 10 million.

Source

• UCA News

New proposals on restructuring parishes in the archdiocese will buy the Church some time. Not much though - between five and ten years at the most, says senior priest Fr Aquinas Duffy.

"Anybody who works in parishes can see the structures are collapsing around us. The time for talk is over. Concrete action needs to be taken" he says.

"This crisis has been coming for many years, but Covid has pushed us further over the cliff."

The archdiocese's strategy to offset the impact of a declining and ageing clergy includes sharing resources between parishes.

Called "Building Hope", the new strategy involves reaching out to parishioners to identify nearby parishes with whom they can share resources in terms of finances, personnel and volunteers.

Duffy - who besides being a parish priest is also Vicar Forane (a rural dean) for up to 15 parishes, says the new move to appoint a parish priest to multiple parishes would put huge pressure on priests.

In his opinion, the future will see parishes relying on lay-led liturgies instead of funerals celebrated by priests.

Then there's the question of the Eucharist. How will people access it, he asks?

"We have to face the deeper questions that are coming out of the synodal pathway like who is going to provide the Eucharist in the future? If we don't consider issues like women priests and married, we are only fooling ourselves."

Duffy notes in some parishes in South America a priest celebrates the Eucharist once every two years.

"That is wrong. If you consider the Eucharist to be central to our beliefs, what you are saying is, actually it isn't important because we are not going to find any way of that Eucharist being provided.

"To do nothing is not an option; to do nothing is to make a decision to let it all collapse.

"I can't emphasise enough how critical a moment we are at right now. We are at a crossroads which will determine the future of Catholicism in Ireland" he says.

Source

• The Tablet

My name is Bishop Pascal. I am the ordinary in the Diocese of Heartlands, and I need your help.

Let me first tell you my situation and some of the options that are being proposed to me for dealing with it. Then I'll welcome your suggestions or proposals.

Our diocese has 83 parishes to staff. Up until 3 years ago we were able to supply a priest-pastor for each one.

Since then, due to deaths, resignations, and retirements, the number of our priests capable of active ministry has declined to 76.

I need your help in figuring out how to proceed.

Priestly vocations

I am sure many of you will suggest that we begin by storming heaven with prayer for new vocations. And I assure you we have been and are doing that.

We have had rosary crusades and Chalice programs and "Come and See" visits to our regional seminary. I promote vocations at every Confirmation ceremony or Boy Scout ceremony I am part of.

We are grateful that this past year we were able to ordain two new priests and we rejoice at the six solid candidates in Theology as well as the 10 men coming along behind them.

But in the past year, we also lost 11 priests who either died or retired. The bottom line is that, right now, our new vocations are no way near achieving replacement levels.

I believe strongly in the power of prayer and will continue to urge our people to pray for new priests. They want good new priests and they support every effort we make in that direction.

God always gives us the resources we need

But I also believe in a God who is present and acting in the realities we confront, using them to transform us and help us to grow. Is it possible that through the shortage God is challenging us to become a different kind of church?

A person of faith once said that our God is magnanimous and always gives us the resources we need—whatever those are. But we have to determine what the need really is and not close our eyes to resources right in front of us. It's called stewardship.

And may I ask you, please, not to use our precious time together to tell me all the ways we've gone wrong, what brought us to this pass. Besides being tiresome, these lamentations aren't very helpful, are they?

I've got decisions to make. Real communities have immediate sacramental needs to be addressed right now. I don't think we have the luxury of paralysis by analysis.

The "big" options

Some of you will probably propose that we begin right now to expand the pool of those eligible for ordination.

The options under that heading are easily named. Each one would involve challenging beliefs that have shaped our Church's way of ministering for centuries.

Ordain married men?

That would call us to re-think a long-standing commitment to a celibate priesthood.

It's true that the practice is not a matter of faith but of Church discipline. It remains within the province of the pope to change it.

Still, many of our Protestant brothers and sisters caution us against assuming that you just say, "Let's ordain married men," rub a magic lamp three times, and—voila!—the Parousia arrives.

Ordain women?

That would call us to challenge a belief that Pope John Paul II (but few serious biblical scholars) believed is a matter of faith.

It is that the practice of having only male priests constitutes a norm that binds the Church forever regardless of cultural changes across the centuries.

Bring resigned priests back to active ministry?

That would challenge our understanding of choices once made and raise issues of fairness as if the priesthood were a matter of an individual's personal sense of calling rather than a call by the church community.

What about time-conditioned celibacy, along the lines of Shinto priesthood?

You serve as a celibate for 7 years and then return to the lay state. That would challenge long-held beliefs about the life-long commitment required by the model of Jesus' life.

What are actually "doable options"?

I do see some kind of potential in each of these options, but I call them "the big options" for two reasons.

First, they fall within the compass of the Church's universal authority. They are way beyond my pay level.

And second, even if they were to be adopted it would take years to think through all their consequences and develop reasonable plans for implementing them before they would be ready to meet the road.

Mind you, I'm not averse to bringing up their possibility—in discreet circles! I stepped off the clerical career ladder long ago.

I happen to like our diocese and am happy to stay where I am, thank you. But I've got decisions to make in the coming year. Some, in fact, that I probably should have made five years ago.

So let's just keep those conversations going "on background", shall we?

What are my "doable options" in the immediate future? And what beliefs might each of those options challenge?

Closing parishes

In one sense, closing parishes is the easiest option to carry out. Administratively.

But what does it do to our belief that once formed, a faith community is not just a branch office of the diocese (as the diocese is not a branch office of the universal church, by the way; how would my brothers react to the notion of closing a diocese? Especially his diocese.).

A parish is rather a unique incarnation of the body of Christ in a particular piece of geography. How is the "easy" choice for closure to be reconciled with the dignity of such a gathering of the faithful?

The parishes being considered for a decision on closure will probably be those with fewer parishioners than the rest of the parishes in the diocese, but is the mere fact of smaller or larger numbers a Jesus criterion?

Closing the parish may "gain me a priest" who can provide for the sacramental services of another parish with more parishioners, but what does that say about our concept of priesthood?

There was, after all, a time in the Church when it would have been unthinkable to ordain a man for "at-large" service; the validity of his ordination was tied into life-long service of a particular faith community.

It was analogous to the connection symbolized by a bishop's ring: that he was to be married for life to a single diocese.

Appointment of a non-ordained person as the pastoral agent of the parish

I've seen wonderful lay men—and women—give excellent leadership to parish communities. As effective as any ordained priest, frankly: theologically, spiritually, and pastorally. But appointing a non-ordained person doesn't really help us with the directly sacramental needs, does it?

Liturgical presiding, absolution and sacramental anointing require an ordained priest.

The number of regular weekend liturgies doesn't go down, and the pastoral agent still has to call for help from a sacramental minister coming into the parish from "outside".

What does that do to our belief that effective sacramental liturgy needs to be acculturated, to issue forth from the unique faith-life of a particular embodied community with its own integrated leadership?

Import priests from other priest-rich parts of the world

Several of my brother bishops are pursuing that strategy. It does attain the goal of a quick replenishment of priest-presiders to "cover" the number of liturgies needed.

But, so far, the results of that strategy appear to be mixed at best.

The idea that every priest was cut from the same cookie-cutter and you could just substitute one for another, with no regard for issues of cultural sensitivity, runs counter to the rich development of Eucharistic theology over the past 35 years.

Do we want to risk returning to the mechanistic understanding that, as long as the rite is performed validly, that's all that matters?

Change the day of the community's weekly gathering around the table of the Lord

I have recently heard of dioceses in Europe where a priest is assigned as sacramental minister to as many as six parishes.

On Sunday he presides at liturgy in one of them; on Monday evening in another, on Tuesday in another, and so on.

The people in each of those communities view that (chronologically) "mid-week" liturgy as the central act of worship for that community in that week—fulfilment of Sunday obligation if you will.

Of course, an arrangement like that also challenges our identification of Sunday with the Lord's day.

On the other hand, I have to ask myself: did our Church already fracture that identification when it introduced Saturday-night Mass?

Cut back the number of Masses priests are called to preside at

It is true that in some communities pastors have so tried to accommodate the desires of their people that too many "Masses of convenience" have come to be expected.

Add expected multiple Saturday wedding Masses and, at times, many priests find themselves violating canonical prescriptions concerning the number of Masses a priest can celebrate on any weekend.

I can mandate reducing the numbers but that won't, of itself, be sufficient to deal with the communities where I will need to find presiders in the coming years.

Introduce regular "Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest"

Mid-week "Communion services" are common in many parts of the country. The Church permits and has created officially sanctioned rituals, for this kind of service.

I can inform my priests that when they have a sound reason—vacation, retreat, study program, etc.—to be absent from their parish over a weekend, they are not to scramble around trying to find replacements but have a trained layperson conduct such a service.

Does this practice risk treating the reception of Communion as something separable from the sacrifice of the Mass? Do we want to take that risk?

Anecdotal evidence has people remarking that they like "Sister Elaine's Mass" more than "Charley O'Toole's".

In sum

You see, whichever option I actually choose—and I do have to make a choice—we will be challenging some conviction that has shaped our identity as Catholic Christians for a long time.

If we aren't willing to challenge any of them, we will just continue trying to do what we've always done and our situation will become more and more stressful.

My question to you is painful but simple: which traditional conviction do you want me to challenge—this year?

• George Wilson is a Jesuit priest and retired ecclesiologist who lives in Baltimore. He is the author of Clericalism: The Death of Priesthood(Liturgical Press, 2008).
• First published in La-Croix International. Republished with permission.

It is a labour shortage echoed by a local priest!

"I wonder if I should turn out the lights in Church on Sunday?" he asked.

The priest does not want to be identified.

"You know the shortage of restaurant workers has a parallel in the Church", he commented to CathNews; adding, he is the parish priest of what were four parishes.

"How many more parishes will I have to take on?"

The priest acknowledged there were benefits in combining parishes; 'economies of scale'; one secretary, one accountant, one parish council, but said while these are vital roles, it is not really the point.

"They're hubs of faith", he said.

He thought the Amazon Synod might have delivered married priests, 'viri probati', he is now hopeful he will get help from overseas priests.

"It's either that (priests from overseas) or the Church needs to seriously think about how it can change its model of ministry in parishes".

The priest told CathNews that in his opinion Bishop Vincent Long from Parramatta has put out the challenge not only to Australia, but New Zealand too.

"Long's 'on the money', the days of a Church based on a clerical model are over".

Pressed, he agreed the Church takes a long term view but emphasised, "I need a solution, and if I'm honest, ideally now, but certainly soon".

Right behind the New Zealand synod, he is of the view the New Zealand Church, "at least", needs a decent organisational change strategy accompanied by a lot of prayer.

"I hope we all bring our ears to the New Zealand Synod conversations."

The priest acknowledged two of the parishes he serves are small, but does not think closing them down is the solution.

"It's certainly time to stop thinking in the old ways; shutting things down when one priest can no longer supply services in the same way, particularly in rural areas, disrespects people's lives, their faith and the Church's commitment to the local community".

The priest acknowledged parishes need priests, and then went on to say, "we're not the only component in parishes."

"We need to approach the various situations with pastoral sensitivity".

"We're not a branch of a bank that closes when the rent outweighs the number of transitions", he said.

"We need to approach the matter differently.

"We need to think differently".

"Gerry Arbuckle calls is it 'refounding the Church'.

"I always thought that was a 'tall order', but perhaps I should read his book again; this time with 'different eyes'".

The priest says he keeps a watch on the News and wondered at the time about the impact of the Government's new immigration settings.

Responding to the 'immigration reset', Westpac economists say the Government's announced review into migration settings will result in a "significant tightening" in the form of tougher skills requirements for new migrants.

The bank's Satish Ranchhod says a tightening in migration settings will see a big change when the borders reopen.

Net migration is likely to settle around 30,000 per annum which is about half of what New Zealand saw over much of the past decade.

Asking the priest if he was aware the Immigration Department has a special category for religious workers, the priest replied, "yes", followed quickly by, "And they don't have to buy a house".

"The fact is, for some time now priests haven't been coming and it seems they are not coming".

"It's post-lockdown and New Zealand is not open, the world is way off safely being fully open and I suspect we need to think differently".

Sources

• interest.co.nz
• Stuff
• Immigration NZ
• Image: Stuff

Cardinal John Dew announced in June that only Featherston's St Teresa of Avila and Masterton's St Patrick's Church would be kept.

The following properties will be up for sale

• The Martinborough, Greytown, and Carterton churches are to be closed permanently, and the property is to be sold. The Carterton and Martinborough churches were closed in 2018 because they were earthquake-prone.
• The centre behind the Featherston presbytery could be retained, "if the parish wishes."
• The Carterton church hall was also to be sold, but there is a possibility of building a smaller multipurpose building closer to St Mary's School for school use.
• Te Ore Ore church land is to be returned to the marae.
• The Lansdowne hall and land are to be sold, and Moore House would be relocated or demolished.
• Research will be carried out on the ownership of St Joseph's Catholic Church in Riversdale and its future discussed with ecumenical partners to see if it should be sold.

The Martinborough parish has the opportunity to put a case forward to keep its hall if it can be repurposed, "as a centre for mission."

If they can repurpose it, the property is to be subdivided and the surplus land to be sold.

Reasons given for the decision to sell were:

• The shortage of priests
• High maintenance costs
• Declining congregations
• Pope Francis' focus more on missionary work

At the time of the proposed closures, the Wairarapa Parish Pastoral Council response to a reduction in parishes was "no".

It lobbied to retain all five churches with a call for leadership on how to achieve this.

The submission said there were examples of where one priest had served five to six parishes.

Source

• times-age.c0.nz
• Image: times-age.co.nz

The plan — to be carried out over two years — is different from previous restructurings that often included mergers, closing of parishesand clustering, where one priest would oversee more than one parish. However, there still might be closings of parishes in the future.

"Clusters are too hard on priests and we do not intend to use them any longer," said Archdiocese of Detroit spokeswoman Holly Fournier. "Where clusters currently exist, the plan is to welcome them into new 'families' where their pastors can begin sharing in ministry with the rest of the clergy assigned to the 'family.'" Read more

Talk of reducing the number of dioceses in country districts is met with hostility from clergy and Catholic faithful alike, who see it as a "view from Paris".

Nonetheless, many wonder if the country's 100 dioceses aren't too many, given the serious priest shortage.

Merging those that are poor in terms of human and financial resources is considered "out of the question," by clergy as disparate as a priest from a small southwestern French diocese and the Archbishop-emeritus of Rouen.

The resistance is mainly about the distance people will have to travel to receive the sacraments.

In the dioceses of Bourges, Poitiers and Strasbourg, for example, the priests and lay people often complain about the distances they have to travel for meetings which cannot all be held at the diocesan center.

"The question is what's the appropriate size for a diocese," asks the Director of the Higher Institute of Ecumenical Studies at the Institut Catholique in Paris.

While Italy has some "enormous" dioceses, such as Milan or Turin, there are also many other "tiny" ones, he notes.

One reason people don't want to change the status quo is because of their personal attachment to their diocese and its history.

Many of those who are living in merged dioceses - for instance three that were merged over half a century ago - remain disappointed, despite there being three distinct diocesan associations.

Christoph Theobald SJ explains:"Our churches in the West, like our societies, are in a process of bureaucratization".

He stresses the importance of avoiding any regrouping that would increase the risk of a "vertical schism" between "neglected" faithful and a "distant" ecclesial government.

Despite the various concerns from France's clergy and faithful, the French Bishops' Conference (CEF) is reflecting on the future of some dioceses.

They are particularly concerned about the ones that no longer have the resources to support a full administrative apparatus or curia and those that have difficulties in finding priests or lay leaders to cover all the pastoral duties.

"It is a question that we will have to face, without rushing, but trying to be pragmatic," says one bishop.

Another says it would not be "a question of merging, but of appointing a bishop who would be in charge of two dioceses".

One of the places that opposes any regrouping or merger has only 27 active priests, half of whom are foreigners.

It is refusing efforts to be regrouped with the neighboring diocese, but - as is the case with several other dioceses, is happy to collaborate.

The two dioceses already have joint training and formation programs, especially for catechists.

Some provinces are encouraging their priests to work in inter-diocesan fraternities and to change dioceses for a few years.

"It is up to the metropolitan archdioceses to support the smaller dioceses," a bishop-emeritus says.

Source

• La Croix
• Image: Wikipedia

The claims were made by the Rev Deacon Michael Phelan, a retired Permanent Deacon in the diocese of Northampton, who raised concerns amid what some people deem an international shortage of Catholic priests.

In a letter to The Tablet, the international, weekly Catholic publication, he said: "At a time when this country is extremely short of priests it is disconcerting that our Cardinal and bishops see it as a solution to rob dioceses in Africa and elsewhere of their equally scarce resources of priests.

"This leads to our laity having many foreign priests with poor English or accents that cannot be understood, coupled with very different cultural backgrounds." Continue reading

Dew has thanked the priests and brothers of the Society of Mary for their pastoral care and leadership in Otaki which the Society of Mary has provided almost continuously since 1844.

The Society only recently took up care of the larger new parish of Sts Mary and Joseph, which combines both Otaki and Levin.

But because of the ageing of its priests and brothers the Society of Mary has found it can no longer provide a religious community to minister to the pastoral care for the parish.

"Given the long history of the Marist presence in this area, this move is not something that we have approached lightly or rashly," said Father David Kennerley, the provincial of the Society of Mary.

"Indeed, it is with great sadness and regret that we have made this decision."

Society of Mary will continue to offer its assistance to the parish and the greater Wellington area in Maori Pastoral Care.

Source

• Supplied: Archdiocese of Wellington; Society of Mary
• Image: c2.staticflickr.com

This is because those bishops are in charge of diocese where there is a significant shortage of priests, said Bishop Crispian Hollis.

The former ordinary of Portsmouth diocese said he is increasingly convinced that, "sooner rather than later" the Church in Britain and further afield "will rightly have to move towards the ordaining of married men".

In his 23 years as Bishop of Portsmouth, he said, the tide had turned from there being plenty of priests to go round, to a situation where he was forever "scratching around" to find enough priests to run the parishes.

Continue reading

Bishop Leo O'Reilly of Kilmore has urged his colleagues to arrange a commission to this end.

Bishop O'Reilly also wants such a commission to study the possibility of female deacons.

He will raise the idea at the next meeting of the Irish bishops in October.

"I think the other bishops would be open to the idea of a discussion and we are reaching a situation where we have to look at all the options possible," he said.

Bishop O'Reilly told The Irish Catholic that his proposal was in response to Pope Francis.

"Pope Francis has encouraged individual bishops and bishops' conferences to be creative in looking at ways to do ministry in the future, so I think we have to consider all options," he said.

Bishop O'Reilly's proposal comes in the wake of a 10-month "listening" process in his diocese.

This saw a diocesan assembly and a new diocesan pastoral plan to tackle the challenges facing the Church, including a declining number of priests.

As an example of what could be done, Bishop O'Reilly pointed to a commission in Brazil studying the possibility of ordaining married men in response to the shortage of priests.

Mandatory celibacy for priests in the Latin rite of the Catholic Church is a matter of law and tradition, not doctrine or dogma.

Church authorities have at times given permission for married clerics of other Christian traditions who become Catholic to be ordained as priests.

Currently, the Catholic Church permits only men to be ordained as deacons.

A 2002 study by the International Theological Commission concluded that the role of female deacons in the early Church cannot be considered equivalent to that of ordained male deacons.

It also concluded that the permanent diaconate belongs to the sacrament of orders, which the Church believes is limited to men alone.

Sources

• The Irish Catholic
• The Catholic Herald
• Image: Irish Times

The four lay staff and three priests, who previously worked within the three parishes of St Mary's, St Patrick's and St Thomas More, are presently working out of the unified parish's temporary site at St Mary's in Greenmeadows.

As parish pastoral council member David Marshall said, the location for the staff will eventually be be at the more central St Patrick's Church but money would have to be spent.

The Parish House in Napier is now vacant and two options for its future were now on the table.

It can either be converted and refurbished up to earthquake-risk levels or demolished to make way for a new office building.

"That is the challenge we have to take on," Marshall said.

He says services will continue at all three parishes and a "hub" of volunteers will be at them each morning to deal with parishioner inquiries and provide hospitality "for visitors from wherever they might come".

He said the unification mass on May 24 as probably the most significant event in the 165-year history of the church in Napier.

Last month the unifying of the three parishes was celebrated by Bishop Charles Drennan, the Bishop of Palmerston North Diocese and the three priests of the new parish Father Peter Head, Father Mike Wooller and Father John Mori. The event saw the Municipal Theatre in Napier packed with about 1000 people.

Source

• nzherald.co.nz
• Image: nzherald.co.nz

The three separate parishes of Masterton, Carterton and Featherston will combine to become the Catholic Parish of Wairarapa, as of February 1.

The new parish will be centrally administered from Masterton, but all five Catholic churches in Wairarapa will still continue to hold Mass and other activities.

Masterton parish leader Father Julian Wagg said one reason for the change was a decline in the number of priests. Continue Reading

Wellington archbishop John Dew has produced a discussion document for consideration by all church members detailing proposals for wide ranging structural changes. It includes amalgamating 47 regional parishes into 23.

Proposals to be discussed include combining the Eastbourne, Petone and Waiwhetu parishes; Avalon, Naenae and Taita; and Heretaunga and Stokes Valley.

The Upper Hutt, Lower Hutt and Wainuiomata parishes would remain as they are. Continue reading

But, across the Irish Sea, the archdiocese of Liverpool is preparing to have lay people conduct funeral services and committals at the graveside when no priest is available.

The Irish Catholic report said the Catholic bishops were drawing up "radical new plans" for lay-led Sunday services "as more-and-more communities are set to be left without a priest for the first time".

But a statement from the Catholic Communications Office said the report was incorrect.

"Rather, over the last number of years, in relation to weekday liturgy when Mass is not celebrated, bishops have been discussing this important issue," a spokesman said.

"In these discussions there is a distinction between the centrality of the celebration of the Eucharist on a Sunday, and Eucharist celebrated on a weekday," he said.

The spokesman said bishops were "always concerned to ensure the adequate provision of opportunities for communities to gather for worship, especially in the aftermath of this year's International Eucharistic Congress in Ireland and [given] the centrality of the Eucharist to the Catholic faith".

"In the absence of a priest to preside at the celebration of the Mass, the church still gathers to worship God," he added.

The Irish Catholic article also said that a spokeswoman for Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin had confirmed to the newspaper that the archbishop had not given permission for a nun to lead a Communion service in a County Wicklow parish the previous weekend.

It cited listeners to a RTÉ Radio One programme, who said that parishioners who turned up as usual for Sunday evening Mass in Blessington were led by a religious sister who led a liturgy, preached a homily and distributed Holy Communion "when no priest turned up".

The newspaper quoted a spokeswoman for Archbishop Martin as saying the incident was "unprecedented" and a "one-off event".

Sources:

Irish Times

Irish Catholic

The Tablet

Image: St Senan's Parish

These priests come from Samoa, Kiribati, the Philippines and India. As well as information about the church, their welcome pack includes information on New Zealand and publications from the Office of Ethnic Affairs, Human Rights Commission and Statistics New Zealand.

Source

Te Korowai Whakapono

The new parishes are larger and often involve a single priest holding services at more than one church.

Christchurch Catholic Bishop Barry Jones said the reduction would "cause some sorrow and sadness", but was necessary to retain Sunday Mass.

"Sunday Mass is at the heart of the life of the church. Because we now have a reducing number of priests, parish amalgamations will see the formation of larger parishes, fewer in number," he said.

On Wednesday 25th January 2012, Bishop Barry Jones suppressed some existing parishes and established new ones. This was after an extensive period of consultation on The Provision of Sunday Mass in the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch.

Source

• The Press
• Image: Screen shot Christchurch Diocese

As a result, Latin America, Africa and Asia will play a far greater role in setting the tone for the global church.

One underutilized resource for pondering this transition is the missionary orders, with their long experience navigating cultural gaps. As it happens, I received two fascinating reflections this week from veteran missionaries, one an Italian Comboni serving in the Philippines, Fr. Renzo Carraro, and the other an American Jesuit currently in Malawi after many years in Zambia, Fr. Pete Henriot.

Although each covered a variety of topics, they intersect at a critical point: priest shortages and their frightening pastoral implications.

Admittedly, the idea of priest shortages in the global south may be counterintuitive for Catholics in Europe and the United States. Looking around, it's easy to get the impression of a surplus, given our growing reliance on priests from Africa, Asia and Latin America to plug holes here. In the United States, one of out every six priests is now foreign-born, and we add 300 international priests every year. It's a rare American diocese that doesn't have at least a handful of priests from locales such as Nigeria or India.

This trend has sometimes been labeled the "reverse mission," implying that territories that were once the object of missionary activity are now returning the favor, dispatching zealous young priests to revive the faith in moribund regions of the West.

That's a compelling vision, but it hides a basic flaw: the math doesn't work.

Continue reading "Global priest shortages"

Image: Pray