Bishop warns of leadership challenge in diocese, The Times-Tribune (April 12, 2015)

Bishop warns of leadership challenge in diocese

The Times-Tribune
April 12, 2015

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/bishop-warns-of-leadership-challenge-in-diocese-1.1862551

A third of the active priests in the Diocese of Scranton will reach retirement age in the next 10 years, said Bishop Joseph C. Bambera, sounding a warning bell of a leadership vacuum developing in the diocese.

In a video address presented during Sunday masses around the diocese, the bishop spoke about the vibrancy of the parishes, but acknowledged the Church needed to come to terms with it shrinking ranks of priests.

Among the facts provided by the diocese:

In 1990, there were 316 priest in active ministry in the Diocese of Scranton.
Today, there are 130.
Of these 130, 16 are 45 years old or younger.
Over the next 10 years, 45 priests will reach the retirement age of 75.
37 of them are pastors/administrators.
In 1990, there were 44 men preparing for priesthood.
Today, there are nine over an eight-year span of preparation.
There will be one ordination to the priesthood in the diocese this year and five retirements.

In his video address, the bishop said there will be regional gatherings throughout the diocese to discuss how the church can deal with this problem. One solution might be to have deacons serve as pastors at churches, allowing priests to focus on duties only they can perform, he said. The practice is common in other regions, but would be new to the Diocese of Scranton.