Are you ready for Catholic megachurches due to priest shortages

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It looks like the trend in my town is going this way. We’ve already lost 2 churches in the last 15 years and the church I go to will probably be combined with the big church in town to make it a one parish town.

A couple of thoughts. These combining of churches and constant shuffling of parishes has caused a lot of people to ‘church shop’ the various parishes in the area, like protestants. Talking with some of the people in my current parish, they indicate they would do the same thing if the parish closes down. I don’t necessarily want to go to parish we would combine with either. My sister in law has changed parishes 3 times in the last 2 years.

I went to a large church when I grew up. We had 2 or 3 priests to service the parish, and I think we had 5 masses per weekend. I don’t know if we approached 10k people, but it was a big population. It wasn’t really a big deal, imo. Although I do prefer my smaller parish now and that’s what it attracted me to it.

It’s sad to see our little parish bleeding people as they go off to other parishes. Our church has a lot of programs, especially community programs, and they’re all going to disappear and maybe not be replaced in other parishes.
 
baltobetsy said:
In the OP’s defense, Archbishop O’Brien has been making a lot of changes, beginning with the school system. A number of schools were merged or closed last year, and there was a great deal of upset about it. I do recall reading that he is turning his attention to the parishes now in order to achieve the most efficient use of human and material resources. I just can’t find the letter.
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Yes, but this is still a far cry from the kind of thing the OP has talked about in the first post which is why I am surprised that for the couple of people that have said they have “heard” or remembering reading something no one can provide a substantial link.
 
Elizium23 said:
That is apples and oranges. How many priests serve that congregation of 25,000? And how many actual bodies are in the church at each Mass? How many people can be seated in the church building?
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Priests - 2 (Fr. Eduardo, the head priest, and usually one missionary priest who is using the opportunity to learn how to do the Mass in English). People that can be seated - probably 400 or so? On Sunday, the English masses are usually at about 60% of the Cathedral’s capacity, but the Spanish masses have people lining the inside of the church because there are no seats. They could probably have another 1-2 Spanish masses and fill the entire hall for them.
 
balt_orioles54 said:
Are you ready for Catholic megachurches due to priest shortages?
In a letter sent by archbishop o’brian in our archdiocese - the future of the catholic church, he suggested between the lines, was the re-alignment, probably sale of church property - and we will be building large megachurches like the protestant ones now in operation where say 10,000 catholics can be at one mass because there is only 1 priest available. Are we ready to see this happen? :hey_bud:
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That would be awesome!!! that way everyone could hear my homily :D:D I imagine this would also create a better community feeling in the long run as well.
 
Stavros said:
According to the web site of my home parish, the Cathedral Guadalupe in Dallas, “With 25,000 registered families, the Cathedral Shrine is recognized as the second largest cathedral congregation in the nation, second only to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. Equally significant, the Cathedral Shrine has the largest Latino congregation in the nation.” There’s 2 masses on Saturday (1 English, 1 Spanish) and six masses on Sunday (2 English, 4 Spanish).

Their confession times are 4:00 PM - 4:45 PM (before English Mass) and 6:00 PM - 6:45 PM (before Spanish Mass). And that’s it. Also, because 90% of the attendees are Spanish speakers, virtually all the opportunities for service and adult catechesis are in Spanish as well.

That being said, I think that even mid-sized churches could handle a huge amount of members as long as enough masses were being said, and enough priests were available. It’s the ratio of people to priests that makes the difference to me.
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Hello Starvos you do make a good point it is the ratio of people to priest that make a difference by the way i will be at the Cathedral for the Chrism Mass on Tuesday of Holy Week I live in Garland and go to St Joseph in Richardson We have a really good priest and assistant the assistant priest is really good with the young people teenagers anyway glad to see someone on here that lives in the same county
 
joanofarc2008 said:
Yes, but this is still a far cry from the kind of thing the OP has talked about in the first post which is why I am surprised that for the couple of people that have said they have “heard” or remembering reading something no one can provide a substantial link.
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The archbishop’s letter was apparently published in the current edition of the archdiocesan newspaper. However, that edition is not yet online and I can not find an online copy of the letter elsewhere.

Here is an article, though, which discusses it:
catholicreview.org/subpages/storyarchnew.aspx?action=9814

In the absence of reading the archbishop’s letter, it is hard to say how much of the OP’s comment reflects the archbishop’s thinking and how much reflects speculation.
 
Dale_M said:
The archbishop’s letter was apparently published in the current edition of the archdiocesan newspaper. However, that edition is not yet online and I can not find an online copy of the letter elsewhere.

Here is an article, though, which discusses it:
catholicreview.org/subpages/storyarchnew.aspx?action=9814

In the absence of reading the archbishop’s letter, it is hard to say how much of the OP’s comment reflects the archbishop’s thinking and how much reflects speculation.
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This article is talking about just the opposite - it is not talking about megachurches. It is talking about proper pastoral planning to avoid the megachurch scenario where when Church closures are needed they can be successfully done so that parishes do not lose their identities. This would yes give larger Churches that would be more challenging for some clergy and require more of lay people but is no where near the megachurch that was mentioned in the first post.
 
We are there now in the Atlanta area, maybe not in the size of the facilities, but in the size of the parishes. Our old parish is now huge and is on a major tract of land in the suburbs. Our current parish has about 3500 families registered.

The sense of community is gone when a parish is that big. That’s a shame, but it may well be a taste of the future.
 
I can’t see “mega church’s” that wouldn’t attract people to go to them, but there have been church closings and more people going within a 5 mile radius to a church so the numbers are up in one instead of two.

My priest told how his childhood church in our state is now a condo…our convent attached to one church nearby closed and is for sale, he has co-joined church’s because the second priest was needed elsewhere. I know that since one church has much less parishiners, it will proabably close in the future. They have meetings about it, and I think it has to do more with the maintenance. It’s a beautiful church, would break your heart to see it used for something else, but it needs repairs, expensive roof repairs, interior work, heating it is expensive, it’s just sad. We had 2 schools and now they are joined and numbers are floundering because of the economy, people are scared to commit and then not be able to pay. This will cause tuitions to go up, I’ve seen it with the high schools, less choices, usually means higher payments.

It’s sad, but you can only hope for the best. It might not be bad in your area, but believe me, it is elsewhere.
 
baltobetsy said:
In the OP’s defense, Archbishop O’Brien has been making a lot of changes, beginning with the school system. A number of schools were merged or closed last year, and there was a great deal of upset about it. I do recall reading that he is turning his attention to the parishes now in order to achieve the most efficient use of human and material resources. I just can’t find the letter.
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BaltoBetsy - the letter was an insert in our Sunday Bulletin at St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church, which is part of the Archdiocese of Balto. I’m surprised you didn’t get one in your bulletin as well, being in the same archdiocese as me. This was April 9 / 10, 2011 Masses. :blessyou::ballspin:
 
balt_orioles54 said:
BaltoBetsy - the letter was an insert in our Sunday Bulletin at St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church, which is part of the Archdiocese of Balto. I’m surprised you didn’t get one in your bulletin as well, being in the same archdiocese as me. This was April 9 / 10, 2011 Masses. :blessyou::ballspin:
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Maybe we did. Those things get read in the car on the way home and then are quickly tossed into the recycling bag. I wasn’t dedicated enough to this thread to go pawing through that to find it! 😛
 
Young_Thinker said:
How large (in terms of the truly church-going population) were the previously existing parishes?
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Within the three churches, not huge, probable around 500-700 people. Many people have chosen to go to other churches instead of coming to the merged one. Right now, we are struggling to stay afloat. We lost alot of people as a result of the merger.
 
lakotak said:
Within the three churches, not huge, probable around 500-700 people. Many people have chosen to go to other churches instead of coming to the merged one. Right now, we are struggling to stay afloat. We lost alot of people as a result of the merger.
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I see.
 
Finally, this letter (dated a couple of weeks ago) has been distributed in our parish bulletin. While I do not see (either overtly or between the lines) anything quite as dire as the OP predicts, I do get the sense that the Archbishop is trying to prepare us for some big changes that may be upsetting to some. He’s trying very hard to be upfront about it so no one can say it came from nowhere.
 
Betsy (or anyone else in the Baltimore archdiocese) did Archbishop O’Brien’s letter begin with these words?
Dear People of the Archdiocese of Baltimore,
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The issue of a shortage of priests has always been with our Church. Whether in the early days of the newly created Diocese of Baltimore or when European immigration was at its zenith, bishops have always contended with the issue of having enough priests to serve the spiritual needs of the people.
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More recently, people in our Church at every level have been conscious of the ever-advancing crush of priestly retirements and the equally critical shortage of newly ordained priests. For years this was seen as a problem “on the horizon,” to be dealt with “down the road.”
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catholicreview.org/subpages/storyworldnew-new.aspx?action=9826
 
balt_orioles54 said:
Are you ready for Catholic megachurches due to priest shortages?
In a letter sent by archbishop o’brian in our archdiocese - the future of the catholic church, he suggested between the lines, was the re-alignment, probably sale of church property - and we will be building large megachurches like the protestant ones now in operation where say 10,000 catholics can be at one mass because there is only 1 priest available. Are we ready to see this happen? :hey_bud:
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A megachurch (in terms of numbers) is “officially” defined as attendance of 2,000 or more on a Sunday. I’m sure there are Catholic churches that I know of in Southern California that would easily qualify. You can read more about this here:

hirr.hartsem.edu/megachurch/definition.html#catholic

The Catholic churches in our city combined three parishes into one administratively (but kept the separate church buildings and communities.) As I understand it there are two priests and a permanent deacon. Although this seems to have been a workable solution for them, it has not been without its glitches–for example, the simple logistics of getting a priest from one church to the next in time for the next Mass has not always worked well.
 
I don’t have any solutions to the problem, “Orioles,” but I can sure sympathize. My beautiful historical (small) parish is in the throes of being subsumed into a larger “Cathedral Parish.” That seems to me to be an oxymoron, as well as another discussion thread. 😉 Anyway, I worry the establishment of Catholic megachurches will result in the loss of true “parish culture,” where parishioners know & care for one another, & can have a direct spiritual impact. Attending a small parish has helped me tremendously in this regard. But maybe there’s a way to create the same kind of Christian intimacy in a large parish? Any thoughts out there?
 
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