Diocese Plan Would Shut 6 County Churches, Merge Parishes, by John Barna, Gloucester Couonty Times, April 4, 2008

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	Diocese Plan Would Shut 6 County Churches, Merge Parishes By John Barna Gloucester Couonty Times April 4, 2008 http://www.nj.com/news/gloucester/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1207293164215430.xml&coll=8 The Catholic Diocese of Camden will cut in half the number of parishes within the next two years and close 24 existing churches Bishop Joseph A. Galante announced Thursday Six of the churches to close Most Holy Redeemer and St. John Vianney in Deptford Township, St. John the Evangelist in Paulsboro, St. Mary's in Malaga, St. Anne's in Westville and St. Catherine in Clayton are in Gloucester County. The six-county diocese will go from 124 parishes at present to 66, Galante announced at a news conference in Camden that was also videocast live. There will be 100 churches within those 66 parishes. The reconfigurations for example, St. Patrick's in Woodbury, St. Matthew's in National Park and Most Holy Redeemer, will merge with St. Patrick's becoming the lead worship site with St. Matthew's a secondary site will address declines in both the number of priests to serve and parishioners, Galante suggested. The diocese which had 171 priests in 2005 projects 85 or fewer by 2015. While the diocese represents 500,000 Catholics, slightly more than one in five attend church on a regular basis. Shifting population centers within the diocese Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem has parishes in some cases within close proximity of each other with underutilized facilities and other areas in need of growth, the bishop observed. There is also the challenge of addressing the needs of a more diverse church with growing Latino, Filipino, Korean and Vietnamese populations. "These are the realities we face," Galante offered. The near 50 percent consolidation of parishes is "almost radical," the bishop acknowledged. Many dioceses in the Northeast portion of the country have adopted a "piecemeal" approach, he said. "What's radical is it is being done at one time." Besides the merger of St. Patrick's, St. Matthew's and Most Holy Redeemer, mergers and consolidations in the Gloucester County area include: • St. Agnes and St. Jude, both in Gloucester Township, would merge and St. Jude would close. • St. Mary of Williamstown and St. John Neumann of Winslow Township would merge and St. John Neumann would close. • Our Lady of Lourdes in Glassboro and Queen of Peace in Pitman would merge, with Our Lady of Lourdes being the primary site and Queen of Peace being a secondary site. • St. Michael's of Gibbstown, St. Joseph's of Swedesboro and St. John the Evangelist of Paulsboro would merge, with worship sites at St. Michael's and St. Joseph's. St. John's would close. • Holy Name of Jesus in Mullica Hill, St. Joseph's of Woodstown and St. Ann's of Elmer would merge. The existing worship sites at Holy Name and St. Joseph's would remain open until a new church is constructed on previously acquired land on Route 77 in Elk Township. St. Ann's church would close. • Nativity of Franklinville, St. Bridget's in Glassboro and St. Catherine in Clayton would merge. Nativity and St. Bridget's would remain worship sites. Galante said St. Bridget's would serve a Spanish community. St. Catherine whose parish is the diocese's oldest, dating to 1843 would close. • St. Margaret's in Woodbury Heights and St. John Vianney in Deptford would merge and St. John Vianney would close. • Queen of Angels in Landisville a parish that includes St. Michael's of Minotola and Our Lady of Victories in Landisville would merge with St. Rose of Lima in Newfield, Our Lady of the Lakes in Collings Lakes and St. Mary's of Malaga. St. Rose of Lima and St. Michael's would be primary worship sites. Our Lady of the Lakes would be a secondary site. St. Mary's and Our Lady of Victories would close. • Annunication in Bellmawr would merge with St. Anne's in Westville and St. Maurice in Brooklawn. Annunication would be the worship site with St. Anne's and St. Maurice to close. Three parishes in Washington Township Holy Family, St. Charles Borromeo and Saints Peter and Paul Incarnation in Mantua Township and St. Mary's in Gloucester City would remain as stand-alone parishes. "I recognize this as painful," Galante said. "I recognize people need a time to grieve." John Mitchell, a former Clayton mayor and longtime parishioner at St. Catherine, said he understands the Catholic Church is facing challenges. However, he said hearing the news that his church of 35 years would be closing "was very disheartening." "There needs to be a solution, but I hoped and prayed that it would not be this one," Mitchell said. John Burzichelli, mayor of Paulsboro who was baptized and confirmed at the soon-to-close St. John the Evangelist, noted the church is debt-free. If it was not for the shortage of priests, there would be no issue about a parish formed in 1904 remaining around for many more years to come. Galante observed that parish representatives meeting as 12 organized "deaneries," made most of the recommendations. He was expecting the deaneries to recommend a diocese consisting of between 85 and 90 parishes "I was surprised," by recommendations that exceeded that, he said. Galante suggested the reconfigured diocese parish makeup offers "opportunities" to revitalize the church through new programs. He admitted the 24 percent church attendance rate that came out of deanery meetings is "appalling." "To me, this is a crisis." Fifty years ago, regular church attendance was 74 percent, he noted. The Rev. Thomas S. Donio, pastor of Church of the Nativity, said merging with St. Bridget's and St. Catherine of Sienna will create "a more vibrant community." "The merge itself, the reconfiguration of the parishes, was really all about community to begin with," he said. "The bishop's vision was to enliven the community." "What is not acceptable is complacency or indifference," Galante said. "What is not possible is to do what we've always done, hoping for a different result." He said it would be up to the individual parishes to arrive at a timetable to merge. "Some parishes have already started to work together," Galante said, suggesting it may only be a matter of a "few" months. James Straub, a member of the parish council at St. Matthew's, said he was waiting for a previously scheduled April 10 meeting to begin determining the next step for his parish. Galante noted the diocese has no financial stake in what happens with buildings within a parish. The assets of the merged parishes will belong to the "new entity," Galante said.

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