Archdiocese of Phila. in serious financial shape – and so are its parishes

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

September 30, 2012|By Harold Brubaker, Inquirer Staff Writer

The fortunes of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and its more than 250 parishes are deeply and torturously entwined.

The archdiocese, the central organizing force for 1.46 million Catholics in Southeastern Pennsylvania, depends on money from member parishes to pay for churchwide activities and to shift money to weaker parishes.

But that formula is broken: Too many parishes have seen attendance fall and offerings shrivel, rendering them unable to support themselves. Ten have been shuttered in the last year, including Ascension of Our Lord in Kensington, which is closing Sunday.

There is no easy way out.

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