By Rose French
Star Tribune
October 26, 2010
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/faith/105827198.html?elr=KArksD:aDyaEP:kD:aUq9_b9b_jEkP:QUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU7DYaGEP7vDEh7P:DiUs
St. Canice in Kilkenny and St. Austin in north Minneapolis will appeal the archdiocese decision to close and consolidate their churches.
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| St. Austin parishoner Rosemary McGuigan folds her hands in prayer during morning mass. Of the proposed mergers, McGuigan said: “It will disrupt our whole community.” Photo by David Joles, Star Tribune |
At least two of the 21 Catholic parishes facing mergers and church closures will appeal their fate.
Parishes affected by the sweeping reorganization of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis have until Wednesday to appeal to Archbishop John Nienstedt.
Archdiocesan officials say they don't yet have a total of how many will try to fight the plan because they're still processing the appeals.
Under the reorganization plan, the 21 parishes will close their buildings and be merged into 14 receiving parishes. At the end of the process, the archdiocese will have a total of 192 parishes instead of the current 213. In addition, 33 parishes will join in new "clusters," in which one pastor will lead two or more parishes.
The reorganization, the largest in the archdiocese's history, is a response to tighter budgets, shifting demographics and a projected shortage of priests. The archdiocese counts close to 800,000 members, the largest religious denomination in the Twin Cities.
One of the churches appealing is St. Canice in Kilkenny, a congregation of about 400 members 65 miles southwest of Minneapolis. The nearly 152-year-old parish is set to merge with Holy Redeemer Church in Montgomery.
"It doesn't make any sense," said St. Canice trustee Gene Mach, who is helping spearhead the appeal. "We have no debt, and we do have money in reserve. Our membership has increased over the last year. Everything to this point has been on the upswing."
Mach said petitions were placed at every entrance of the church last weekend, and a majority of parishioners wanted to appeal the merger. He said many also wrote letters with "their own personal thoughts" which will be delivered to the archdiocese.
"The trouble is we may be considered small by Twin Cities standards, but out here, we're not really," Mach said.
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