By Kim Mulford
Courier-Post
April 5, 2008
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080405/NEWS01/804050370/1006
Catholics across South Jersey on Friday flooded Camden diocesan officials with phone calls and e-mail seeking more information about the planned cutback of 58 parishes.
Some parishioners expressed disappointment with Bishop Joseph Galante's decision to reduce the diocese from 124 to 66 parishes within two years. But most posed detailed questions about how and when planned mergers will take place.
There was understanding, too, that the decision was necessary, said Andrew Walton, spokesman for the diocese. Among the reasons the bishop cited were a severe priest shortage, shrinking Mass attendance and population trends.
 |
| Bishop Joseph Galante announces the plan to realign parishes in the Camden Diocese Thursday. Photo by Al Schell |
"Honestly, that is what we are hearing," Walton said. "I think there's an understanding, a realization that what's going on here is not unique. It's something the church is dealing with in every area of the country. It's something that could not be ignored any longer."
Galante, who announced the restructuring program on Thursday, has urged local pastors to discuss the changes with parishioners at Mass this weekend.
Monsignor Peter Joyce, chancellor for the diocese, believes priests at affected parishes are feeling anxiety and apprehension as they prepare to face their people.
"They're on the front lines. It's the pastor who is the face of the church," said Joyce, who is also pastor of Incarnation Parish in Mantua. That's among 22 stand-alone parishes that will remain in the diocese.
At Most Holy Redeemer in Westville Grove, Father Bob Kantz plans to keep his homily simple, relying on a message of faith to help parishioners cope.
His church will no longer be used after Most Holy Redeemer merges with St. Patrick in Woodbury and St. Matthew in National Park.
"I won't be saying anything more than, "This is the plan,' " Kantz said. "Sorry, I don't have any details."
Each pastor received a kit with a DVD of the bishop's 40-minute message to parishioners and materials to guide them, called "Coping With Change Together." The kit includes prayers, rituals, bulletin announcements and a list of ideas to bring parish communities together, such as holding a community dinner in the weeks ahead.
Pastors can also ask for help from more than 100 trained facilitators, including mediators and grief counselors. They are available to visit a parish and develop plans to address parishioners' feelings of loss.
The first parish to reach out for such help, St. Gregory in Magnolia, has set up an April 28 meeting with a facilitator, said Nancy Rocereto, a retired clinical social worker who is coordinating the coping effort. St. Gregory's Church is to lose its status as a worship center after a merger.
But some parishioners say the changes may push them out of the Catholic Church.
"I'm so angry," said Sandi Frehmel-Heim of Erial, who's upset about the loss of St. Edward Parish in Pine Hill. Instead of closing parishes, she thinks the church should modernize, by allowing priests to marry, for example.
"You have to worry about keeping your Catholics," said Frehmel-Heim.
That's a natural reaction for someone coping with pain, Rocereto said.
"That's the really sad piece about this," said Rocereto, whose own parish, Christ the King in Haddonfield, will continue as a stand-alone.
"We're hoping that through prayer, ritual and sharing, people will come to share their feelings of grief and loss. We hope we can get under the anger to the hurt."
Reach Kim Mulford at (856) 251-3342 or kmulford@courierpostonline.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.