BishopAccountability.org
	Priests Move As Part of Plan Consolidations, Mergers Changing Faces of Many Local Catholic Parishes By Colin McEvoy The Express-Times June 2, 2008 http://www.nj.com/news/expresstimes/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-17/1212379550281060.xml&coll=2 Monsignor Michael Chaback was born and raised in the Ss. Cyril and Methodius Parish. His grandparents on both sides of his family were married there. After serving 16 years as pastor of the Bethlehem church — one of eight in Northampton County to be closed due to diocese restructuring — Chaback said he is sorry to leave but it was the right move. "I've known these people, I've grown up with them," he said. "No pastor wants to leave the people he's been close to in that situation, but all the way around, it's the best decision." Chaback is one of 54 pastors or diocese employees being reassigned to a different church building due to the Diocese of Allentown's restructuring program. Eight more employees are being assigned new jobs in their current churches and 11 are retiring. In all, the 73 changes account for the largest clerical reassignments in the diocese in recent memory, diocese spokesman Matt Kerr said. "It's certainly more than usual," he said. "It's all part of the restructuring. When you're putting a new parish together sometimes it's best to have someone new there." Planning for the restructuring began in 2005 as an effort to consolidate churches where possible. In all, 47 churches will close, leaving the diocese with 104 parishes in Northampton, Lehigh, Carbon, Schuylkill and Berks counties effective July 15. In Easton, about 100 parishioners bid farewell Sunday at St. Bernard Church to the Rev. Msgr. John Campbell, who will become pastor at the new Queenship of Mary Parish in Northampton. For seven years, he served as pastor to the 1,600 families in St. Bernard, St. Michael and St. Joseph churches. Those churches will now merge into the new Our Lady of Mercy Parish. Campbell said he would miss his congregation — who lined up in the tightly packed parish hall to shake his hand and say goodbye — but he also said the restructuring was needed. "We needed to do something like this," he said. "It might be a little hard at first, but the people will be fine." Eva Stem, an 87-year-old Palmer Township resident who has attended St. Bernard for 70 years, said she will miss her old church building. "It's a little bit painful, but it has to be," Stem said. "You have to resign yourself to it, but it is painful." Deogratias Rwegasira, the current assistant pastor at the three churches who will now serve as pastor of Our Lady of Mercy, said the congregations have often worshipped together. The merger was expected and welcome, he said. "I'm glad to be serving the people I love," Rwegasira said. "It is a moment of grace. It is a moment of coming together." Chabeck said merging the five churches in Bethlehem's South Side was a correct decision by the diocese, but that it would be a challenge to the parishioners at first. "It's a challenge to help people become one congregation," he said. "There's a great future there for them, I think, but it is also an incredible transition for these people to make." Chaback will become the director of the Office of the Permanent Diaconate based out of the Bethlehem Catholic High School complex. He will oversee recruitment, training and placement of deacons who will be assigned to specific churches and practice "ministries of charity," caring for the needs of members of the congregation who need specific assistance. Reporter Colin McEvoy can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at cmcevoy@express-times.com.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.