By Jim Walsh
Courier-Post Staff
September 7, 2008
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080907/NEWS01/809070349/1006
A planned makeover for the Diocese of Camden, which moved ahead with clerical appointments last month, is to advance further in October with the creation of "core teams" of church members to pave the way for widespread parish mergers.
Resistance to the plan will continue, too, critics vow.
Bishop Joseph Galante announced in April a two-year plan to slash the number of parishes in the diocese from 124 to 66. The cutbacks, to come mostly through mergers, are needed due to a priest shortage and demographic changes, he said.
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| BISHOP JOSEPH GALANTE |
The changes also are meant to strengthen parishes so they can address concerns such as the need for youth ministries and minority outreach, Galante said.
The bishop on Aug. 26 named 41 "priest conveners" to oversee each merger. He also revised merger plans, so that the diocese now is to end up with 68 parishes.
Priest conveners will work with pastors and core teams, or small groups of parish leaders, to effect the mergers.
"The core teams will be formed later in October," said Andrew Walton, a diocesan spokesman.
Critics have pushed back against the bishop's plan.
"Obviously if you have a parish that's not financially sustaining itself, a merger is practical," said Robert Walsh of Pitman, a member of Our Lady Queen of Peace Church and a spokesman for an opposition group, the Council of Concerned Parishes of Southern New Jersey.
"But where you have parishes that are meeting people's needs and where the bishop has publicly ignored looking at the details of the parish, that is the most frustrating thing of all," he said."
In his Aug. 26 announcement, Galante said "many of our parish communities have been eager to move forward."
He said expressions of "disappointment" reflect the "great love" that Catholics hold for their parishes.
Reach Jim Walsh at (856) 486-2646 or jwalsh@courierpostonline.com
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