Some Parish Churches May Not Be Used for Regular Services
By Kevin Murphy
Leader-Telegram
May 12, 2008
http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-news_local.asp?id=BGJ1SIHVCP9
MADISON - Facing a future in which there will be fewer Roman Catholic priests to tend to the spiritual needs of the 200,000 Catholics, the La Crosse Diocese last week realigned its parishes.
"Now we have a plan, and I think it's a wise move to have it known so when the time comes and a parish won't have their own priest it's not a traumatic situation," said the Rev. Brian Konopa of St. Olaf Church on Eau Claire's west side.
Under the plan announced Thursday by Bishop Jerome Listecki, St. Olaf will become the parish center for St. Bridget's Church in the town of Seymour. St. Bridget's doesn't have a resident pastor and instead has been ministered by the Rev. Ed Doerre, pastor at Holy Ghost in Chippewa Falls.
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| St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Eau Claire is part of the La Crosse Diocese, which released a parish realignment plan last week. |
About 1,000 families each attend St. Olaf and Holy Ghost while St. Bridget's has about 110 families, Doerre said.
The diocese has 165 parishes, of which 120 share a priest. Churches without a resident pastor, like St. Bridget's, would remain open but wouldn't have their own finance council, Konopa said.
"That would be one less meeting to attend," he quipped.
Because parishioners have a strong emotional attachment to the building that houses their church, every effort is being made to continue worship there, but the plan accounts for a time when that may not be viable, said the Rev. David Kunz of La Crosse, who chaired the bishop's Pastoral Planning Committee the past two years.
"We wanted to respect and honor that. We'll use the buildings in the same way but not as regularly. There may not be a weekend service in a particular place, but they'll be used for weddings, instruction and funerals," he said.
If a parish loses its priest, some, like St. Joseph in Arkansaw, near Durand, would be shuttered except when used by the permission of the bishop.
The Rev. Jerry Hoeser, 70, ministers at St. Joseph along with St. John in Plum City and St. Henry in Eau Galle.
The Rev. Jeff Burrill is pastor of St. Mary in Durand, which would become the parish center for St. John, St. Henry, St. Joseph and Holy Rosary in Lima. Burrill served on the pastoral committee, which kept St. Joseph in Mondovi a parish center because of its growth.
"There are 500 families there already, and between it and (St. Mary in Durand) we each need a full-time pastor. That's what I like about the plan: It meets the sacramental needs of the people without their having to travel too far to attend a Sunday service," Burrill said.
How quickly the plan is implemented depends on a number of factors, including the numbers of priests that stay in the ministry and how quickly the diocese can work out the rules for financial arrangements of merging parishes.
"If St. Joseph in Elk Mound had $90,000 in the bank and St. James in Eau Claire had a debt of $120,000 and they were to merge, would that $90,000 just be put toward that $120,000 debt?" Kunz said. "That would be a very touchy thing to work out."
Although driven by a shortage of priests, the plan has more to do with administration and organization of the parishes. Most parishioners "probably won't notice a thing," Kunz said.
Immaculate Conception in Eau Claire won't be affected by the plan. With its 3,000 members and four weekend services, the parish is "maxed out," Kunz said.
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