CAMDEN (NJ)
Philadelphia Inquirer
By David O’Reilly
Inquirer Staff Writer
When he took charge of the Diocese of Camden on April 30, 2004, Bishop Joseph A. Galante had no plan to close parishes – let alone embark on the most sweeping reorganization any Catholic diocese in the nation has ever seen.
Four years after arriving here from Dallas, however, he stunned his 500,000-member flock with news he was closing or merging nearly half the 124 parishes in the six counties.
Likening the process to the quick sting of “pulling off a Band-Aid,” he conceded his “radical” approach would cause grief and anger. But in years to come, he promised, it would bring community, “vibrancy,” and financial solvency to the congregations.
Today, the 73-year-old bishop says his stewardship of the ambitious overhaul might end sooner than he once expected. Poor health could force him to step down well before his scheduled retirement in 15 months.
After a decade battling the Type-2 diabetes he “inherited from my father and grandfather,” Galante has entered what he calls “end-stage” kidney failure. Two months ago, he began dialysis treatments three days a week at a Camden clinic.
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