Parish Reconfigurations to Be Announced This Weekend, iobserve, August 28, 2009

Parish Reconfigurations to Be Announced This Weekend

iobserve
August 28, 2009

http://www.iobserve.org/rn0827a.html

SPRINGFIELD – Final pastoral planning recommendations for parishes in the Diocese of Springfield will be announced at weekend Masses Aug. 29 and 30 in the areas to be affected, the diocese announced today.

Springfield Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell approved the recommendations earlier this month following the input of his Presbyteral Council. The bishop noted that most of the parish reconfigurations are to be implemented by the end of November.

The majority of the changes will occur in area cities, said Msgr. John J. Bonzagni, director of the diocesan Office of Pastoral Planning. Some of the areas where changes have been recommended include Chicopee, Easthampton, Holyoke, Ludlow, Northampton, Palmer, South Hadley and Springfield.

The pastoral planning reports were prepared by Msgr. Bonzagni and the 12-member diocesan Pastoral Planning Committee.

The current pastoral planning process was begun in late 2004 to address not only a decline in the number of active diocesan priests, but demographic changes, financial pressures that parishes were facing due to dramatic increases in their expenses and an aging infrastructure.

More than three years ago, committee members were charged, by Bishop McDonnell, with formulating a way to provide “every Catholic in Western Massachusetts fair and equitable access to the sacraments.”

The reconfiguration plans for the entire diocese will utilize 72 diocesan priests. “However, if the number of priests declines beyond expectations, additional changes may need to occur,” Msgr. Bonzagni said.

“We have some pain and we regret that,” Msgr. Bonzagni said. “We wish we didn’t have to do any of this. When you talk about closing a parish, you’re really talking about a death in the family. But, the diocese could not sustain the current infrastructure. These changes are needed to make the church stronger and more vibrant for years to come.”