BishopAccountability.org

Vermont Catholics prepare for 'extraordinary council'

By Adam Silverman
BurlingtFree Press
April 24, 2017

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/2017/04/24/vermont-catholics-prepare-synod-extraordinary-council/100726334/

Roman Catholicism is Vermont's dominant religion, claiming 118,000 members as of spring 2017.

Bishop Christopher Coyne, seen during his installation in January 2015, plans to convene a synod next year.
Photo by GLENN RUSSELL

Parishioners attend a mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Burlington on July 31, 2013.
Photo by GLENN RUSSELL

Holy Family Catholic Church in Essex Junction is among Vermont's 73 parishes — a number Bishop Christopher Coyne says in spring 2017 might need to be reduced.

Bishop Christopher Coyne speaks after being installed as the new leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington during a Mass at St. Joseph's Co-Cathedral in Burlington on Thursday, January 29, 2015.
Photo by GLENN RUSSELL

[with video]

Emerging from a priest-sex-abuse scandal but still confronting challenges with finances and decreasing participation, Vermont's Roman Catholic diocese is embarking on a yearlong re-examination of church structure and rules.

Bishop of Burlington Christopher Coyne plans to convene "an extraordinary council of the church" known as a synod next year — the first for Vermont's Catholics in more than half a century.

The goal: Find new ways to engage and keep Catholics active in the faith. That's a recognition the church no longer can keep doing what it always has, Coyne said: maintaining numerous parishes, celebrating regular Masses and hoping people will attend.

The decisions that emerge from the synod will be significant for each of Vermont's 118,000 residents who identify as Catholic.

"It will affect from myself right down to the newest of our members," Coyne said in a recent interview.

"Young people aren't staying in the churches. The people who are here keep getting older and grayer," he added. "We need to think about new ways of engaging generations X, Y and Z."

Events surrounding the synod are set to begin this fall, when the bishop plans to embark on a listening tour of sorts to hear from a wide range of parishioners who make up Vermont's dominant religion. Almost 20 percent of residents identify as Catholic, though Coyne said only about a third of them attend Mass at least once a month in the state's 73 parishes.

No synod has taken place in Vermont since 1962, according to the diocese. The coming council flows from guidance by Pope Francis to live as a community with conversation, consultation and dialogue, Coyne said.

"It is something that is very structured by church law," the bishop said. "Most important of the work is a lengthy period of consultation with the people of the diocese. …  We will seek their input, seek their advice, and listen very carefully."

Coyne has led the diocese for more than two years, arriving in Burlington with a goal of listening "to my brother clergy, the priests and deacons who serve in our parishes," and a promise to bring no preconceived answers "outside those our faith already gives us."

Since then, people have asked regularly about his plans to address the church's challenges and opportunities.

"The more I think about it, it can't be my plan, it has to be our plan," he said, adding that he wants to establish a structure to ask formally: "How do we as Catholics in Vermont live our lives and carry out our ministry to each other and to the state?"

Challenges that face the Catholic community are a reflection of broader concerns. Vermont's population has been aging for years, according to U.S. census data, and the departure of young residents for work and education elsewhere remains an ongoing issue.

The priest-sex-abuse scandal prompted dozens of lawsuits in Vermont and led in 2009 to a $17.6 million settlement, costing the diocese its headquarters building in Burlington. But that chapter is now closed, Coyne said.

"We were able to come out of the situation without having to file bankruptcy and have some resources," he said, "and that allows us to move forward into the synod."

Contact: asilverman@freepressmedia.com




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