The Catholic Church has certainly seen some downsizing in America through recent decades. Empty Churches? Who’s to Blame. Peter Borre’, Co-Chair, Council of Parishes, seems to believe the answer is simple: American bishops.
The New York Times ran an article last Sunday, April 13, quoting me on the issue of the shortage of clergy in Catholic America; TIME magazine picked this up yesterday and has posted it on its webpage in the “Quotes of the Day” section. To deal concisely with a very difficult topic, Catholic America is in the initial phases of a “tipping point” crisis:
– One-third of adult Catholics have left the faith in which they were raised (The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, March report); these 23 million Americans would constitute the second largest religious denomination in the U.S. today (behind practicing Catholics);
– The Catholic seminaries are emptying out; this fall in the seminary of the Archdiocese of New York, there is not a single entering seminarian, for the first time in its 108 year history;
– The American bishops are well into a massive parish closing program nationwide, with downsizing underway in at least 40 dioceses across 14 states, involving over 800 parishes; many more will come on to the closing lists over the next few years.
Catholic bishops point to a standard list of suspects as the reason for this sizeable parish closing program: (a) changing demography; (b) shortage of clergy; and (c) insolvent parishes. None of these reasons check out under close scrutiny.
By changing demography, the bishops mean that Catholics are getting old and dying. But the bishops fail to fess up to the fact that they themselves are responsible for a market share loss of one-third, due to the millions of Catholic drop-outs; and the bishops fail to mention that this is a time of surging spirituality in the U.S.; it is just that they – the executives of Catholic America – can’t cope.
The shortage of priests is a pretext; in reality, there is plenty of supplementary supply to bridge of clergy over the next several years: the thousands of “religious” from the Catholic orders, Jesuits, Franciscans, Paulists, Benedictines and so forth; and priest-exporting countries such as Poland, The Philippines, India (Catholic Goa), and the diaspora of Vietnamese Catholics.
The insolvent parish argument is an outright falsehood in my own Archdiocese of Boston, where at least half of the 83 parishes listed for “suppression” four years ago were (and are) vibrant, and in many cases wealthy. These viable parishes were put on the suppression list so that the Boston bishops could get hold of the parishes’ bank accounts and their lucrative real estate.
Authoritative estimates from Georgetown’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate indicate that from a current level of 19,000 parishes, eventually as many as 7,000 American parishes could be shut down by the diocesan bishops. This would amount to a 37% downsizing in the U.S., a country which today is second, after Brazil, in the ranking of the most numerous Catholic populations world-wide.
A downsizing of one-third or more would constitute a pervasive failure on the part of the American bishops:
– Their failure to evangelize among the faithful, at a time of robust growth in the U.S. among other religious denominations;
– Their failure to uphold the dignity of the priestly calling, as seminaries empty out; and
– Their failure to safeguard the material patrimony of the Church, as billions of dollars have been (justly and appropriately) paid out for the decades of clerical sex abuse; today, the finances of many dioceses are in disarray.There is a bit of scripture which applies to these shepherds of many American dioceses, from The Book of Ezekiel, Chapter 34:
Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been pasturing themselves!…
You have fed off their milk, and slaughtered the fatlings…
You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the lost…
You lorded it over them harshly and brutally
So they were scattered for lack of a shepherd…
I think Borre’s view is a litle dark because I believe I see a rebirth on the horizon despite the mismanagement from many corners. Many of the younger clergy are on fire with their faith and seeking to return the Church in America to her former glory. I, along with Patrick, believe it is Morning Again in the Church. And perhaps the Pope’s visit is the new “tipping point” we’ve been waiting for.
April 19, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Also, he talks about the unprecedented “spirituality” in modern America.
When a lot of people say they’re “spiritual” they mean in a warm, gushy, Jesus loves me and wants me to be as rich as Joel Osteen sort of way.
Catholicism is HARD. And in a world where we no longer respect self-discipline and ultimate Truth, people will take the easy way out.
It’s called original sin.
Also, I wonder if some of the “shifting demographics” is just people moving south, away from Boston/NYC/Etc.
And perhaps the Archdiocese of NY should contemplate why they can’t find seminarians, but smaller dioceses (Lincoln, Rockford, Austin) can…..
Perhaps it’s not young people leaving the church, but a need to change how their vocation program works?
April 19, 2008 at 2:35 pm
The last forty years has seemed a bit of a desert experience. Maybe it was the Lord’s way of winnowing out the chaff. We’ve been through this before, of course, so many times.
I agree with Borre in that the responsibility lies on the bishops. Of course, it also lies on our shoulders: we have failed to live the witness of Christ effectively to our fellow Catholics in the pews, at work, at home.
Ultimately, Jesus is Lord of history, and I’m glad that Pope Benedict doesn’t play the numbers game. He’s much more interested in a Church of true believers than a church building filled with the lukewarm. But how will the lukewarm hear the word of greater faithfulness if there is no one to preach or witness?
I pray the Morning in the Church will be one of renewed vigor for faithfulness and evangelization, and faithful Catholics will resist the temptation to separate ourselves from others in a misguided attempt to protect our souls and our children’s souls from the influence of a corrupt culture. As St. Francis of Assisi said, “Go out and preach the good news. If necessary, use words.” That message is for us lay folk, as well as for the bishops. I think CMR is one excellent example of how lay Catholics can respond to that calling.
Bob Hunt
April 19, 2008 at 4:35 pm
We are one of the diocese Deirdre mentions. We are opening a new parish (they just began construction on a temporary prayer chapel until the actual church can be built).
Three priests were ordained last year, two the year before that, and three the year before that in this diocese. This year, we have one deacon who will be ordained a priest in June. And these are great young priests–extremely orthodox and very well-formed in seminary.
April 19, 2008 at 5:44 pm
It’s funny that the diocese which seem to be doing well tend to be the most faithful ones.
April 19, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Is that possibly true about New York??? Not one seminarian??? In that most Catholic of areas??? Seriously?
Irenaeus
April 19, 2008 at 8:47 pm
In every other business, the exectuives are held responsible for results. Not that the Church is a business, or that our goal is necessarily higher numbers. But can anyone deny that the last 40 years have been an abject failure in terms of keeping Catholic people Catholic?
April 21, 2008 at 4:34 am
Daddio said that in every other “business” we hold the execs accountable. This is true. It is also true of the Catholic Church, where the “stockholder” is God Himself. And when the stockholders don’t like what’s going on, the “executives” are punished, only in this case that punishment is likely to be eternal. Was it Dante that posited that the “floor of Hell is paved with the skulls of bishops”? I cringe at what they have to answer for….
April 21, 2008 at 4:12 pm
There is a book recently published …The Faithful Departed: The Collapse of Boston’s Catholic Culture
by Philip F. Lawler
Goes in to great detail about what Mr. Peter Borre’ is saying.
Highly recommended