Chicago Archdiocese Set for Major Reorganization

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nbcchicago.com/news/local/Chicago-Archdiocese-Set-for-Major-Reorganization-367834451.html
Archbishop Blasé Cupich is embarking on a major reorganization in the Archdiocese of Chicago.
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In what’s being called a sweeping change of landscape, priests have been told that in the next 14 years 80 to 100 Chicago-area parishes could be forced to merge or close, sources told NBC Chicago.
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Though the Archdiocese would not confirm the number of reported closures, at least one priest who has been briefed on the plan says it is driven partially by finances, “but mostly it’s the number of priests available 14 years from now.”
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The Archdiocese projects by 2030 there will only be 240 priests to serve the city’s 351 parishes. Currently, those parishes are served by 772 priests.
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Priests who have attended the recent meetings with Cupich, and prefer not to be named, say in the next two years 17 parishes are expected to close as the reorganization plan begins. It’s not clear which parishes will be included in those closures, however.
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The priest shortage means it is very likely that two parishes may share one pastor, a number of priests told NBC5.
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In a letter sent first to priests and later posted on the Archdiocese website, Cupich does not qualify the exact number of parishes that will close but says, “the Archdiocese has changed in a significant way over the past several decades."
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“Demographics have shifted dramatically,” he wrote. "Some of our parish buildings are in disrepair. We have fewer priests to pastor or faith communities. The result is that we end up spreading our resources too thinly. We should not be afraid to face these realities, but rather see this moment as a graced opportunity to chart new way to live out our mission more fully.”
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At least one priest told NBC Chicago “we can’t sustain it the way it is."
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Meetings with lay leaders in parishes throughout the entire Archdiocese are expected to begin next week.
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Also

Priest shortage, aging parish buildings prompt Archdiocese of Chicago overhaul

Massive overhaul slated for Chicago Archdiocese
 
Sure leads me to suspect we’re in the End Times. Such a think sounded impossible when I was a child and I still have only a few gray hairs. Personally this is what I’ve believed for a long time is the 3rd Secret of Fatima.
 
As the Lord Jesus does with each soul , He does also with church parishes and families all disorder within each of us comes to its destiny ,which is that the disorder, finally collapsed . That is the mercy of our God in action . The disorder must collapse ,to rebuild on the truth ,who is the way and person of Jesus Christ. Our Lord is renewing His church. He must renew each of us ,for we are the Church. We are living in a period of great transformation by our Lord Jesus. His mercy is transforming ! He does not leave us in the darkness of our sin. Thank you Lord !
 
Amazing that some Bishops and Archbishops like to count their priests and parishioners – You know what happened to King David when he counted his men -2 Samuel 24- also you do not see Jesus counting either – he did a great job with 12 Apostles even though some denied him, betrayed him and left him during his passion and crucifixion except the beloved apostle St. John. – Some of these priests need to live in the missions where they have to travel miles, days to give communities a mass once a year, once a month.
There are some priest who think going 30 miles plus a few masses on Sunday is way too much for their comfortable life style – now I am not saying all priests far from it. May we continue to pray for more vocations to the priesthood and support our priests etc.
 
Divine3 said:
Amazing that some Bishops and Archbishops like to count their priests and parishioners – You know what happened to King David when he counted his men -2 Samuel 24- also you do not see Jesus counting either – he did a great job with 12 Apostles even though some denied him, betrayed him and left him during his passion and crucifixion except the beloved apostle St. John. – Some of these priests need to live in the missions where they have to travel miles, days to give communities a mass once a year, once a month.
There are some priest who think going 30 miles plus a few masses on Sunday is way too much for their comfortable life style – now I am not saying all priests far from it. May we continue to pray for more vocations to the priesthood and support our priests etc.
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With your citation of 2 Samuel you seem to be saying that it is somehow wrong for a bishop to even know how many priests are working in his diocese, and the size of his pastoral needs. Huh? My understanding of the passage is that the problem was David’s motivations and pride behind the count, not the count itself. And I think the needs of the Church today are not met by a priesthood that consists of a bunch of urban “circuit riders” who spend all their time traveling to sites so people can “hear Mass,” but who are otherwise unavailable for continuing pastoral needs.
 
If anyone is questioning the OP number of priests, please know that I am too. I found this article and this doesn’t seem to be right either, especially the low number of ordinations during a 14 yr period.
CHICAGO (WLS) –
A major overhaul is planned for the Chicago Archdiocese. It could mean dozens of churches will close.
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Fr. Thomas Belanger says the proposed overhaul slated for the archdiocese, which could see as many as 100 churches shuttered over the next 14 years, was inevitable. The pastor of St. Philip Neri parish, who serves as dean over 21 South Side parishes and schools, says he learned about the plan last Friday during a meeting priests had with Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich. He says clergy were told that dwindling membership and aging church buildings could mean church closings and parish consolidations by the year 2030.
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With 180 priests expected to retire by then and only 10 ordained priests to replace them, there’s also an expected priest shortage
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Neither the archbishop nor officials at the archdiocese would comment publicly, but in a message to parishioners in this week’s Catholic New World, the archbishop wrote:
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“Demographics have shifted dramatically. Some of our parish buildings are in disrepair. We have fewer priests to pastor our faith communities. The result is that we end up spreading our resources too thinly. We should not be afraid to face these realities.”
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And although the planned process is said to be nothing like the closings in 1990 when closures were sudden, there are still concerns that the plan is too drastic and will hurt parishioners. But in this South Shore parish, Belanger says he prays the Catholic Church will become stronger.
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“Those of us in the field will have to journey with the people,” he said.
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I’ll try to find a resolution to the projection.
 
May I ask a couple simple questions?

Why is it that the Archdiocese is not planning a full-out attempt to increase vocations and to call parents and Catholics to encourage vocations? Why isn’t there a call for rosaries and prayer groups calling out for vocations?

It seems so many times the Church just concedes as if they are helpless to make any changes. These problems are projected for 2030–that gives the Archdiocese 14 years to try to make a difference.

There is never a shortage of God’s call to the Priesthood–yet there is a shortage of men listening to that call. Why isn’t THAT the area to be targeted for help?
 
irishpatrick said:
May I ask a couple simple questions?

Why is it that the Archdiocese is not planning a full-out attempt to increase vocations and to call parents and Catholics to encourage vocations? Why isn’t there a call for rosaries and prayer groups calling out for vocations?

It seems so many times the Church just concedes as if they are helpless to make any changes. These problems are projected for 2030–that gives the Archdiocese 14 years to try to make a difference.

There is never a shortage of God’s call to the Priesthood–yet there is a shortage of men listening to that call. Why isn’t THAT the area to be targeted for help?
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These are good questions and I hope that in the next few weeks we will hear more about this on the local news here. They always seem to be giving us coverage as you might expect.

I would agree that 14 years is long enough period to try to instill more vocations into the area, even if (and I’m surprised none of my sources mentioned this) that means ordaining more Spanish-speaking priests, as it seems even the suburbs are in shortage there.
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
With your citation of 2 Samuel you seem to be saying that it is somehow wrong for a bishop to even know how many priests are working in his diocese, and the size of his pastoral needs. Huh? My understanding of the passage is that the problem was David’s motivations and pride behind the count, not the count itself. And I think the needs of the Church today are not met by a priesthood that consists of a bunch of urban “circuit riders” who spend all their time traveling to sites so people can “hear Mass,” but who are otherwise unavailable for continuing pastoral needs.
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Well some people hear mass, but a priest is mean to celebrate mass and we are meant to enter into the celebration – the greatest work and worship is the mass – we need the electricity that a "circuit rider brings to us in the persona christi – better to light a candle then curse the darkness – Well if a bishop has to count his priests then I guess he might not know them too well.
Here is a quote I just found from Fr. Charles Grondin which is very informative as to the passage from Samuel "Re: Why did God punish David for taking a census?
The basic idea behind the passage is that David was asserting ownership of the people of Israel rather than recognizing that they belong to God.

In Jewish tradition census taking of the people of Israel was forbidden (Hosea 2:1). Moses was only permitted to take a census indirectly (Exodus 30:12-13) by having each Israelite offer a coin as a sin offering and then count the coins. By only being able to count what the people offered to God it reinforced the point that the people do not belong to Moses or any leader.

Jewish commentaries also stress that a census divides and separates the Jewish people into categories and individuals rather than treat them as a unified people of God. Judaism teaches that each individual person is of infinite value to the body of Israel and should never be reduced to a category or number.

David had no reason for taking his census other than his own curiosity and personal future plans. He treated the people of Israel as if they belonged to him and were his to do with as he pleased. God punished him for his pride and reminded him that everything belongs to God." Fr. Charles was not responding to the opinion I gave but it seemed worth quoting just for understanding that passage.
 
zz912 said:
Indeed. Time for bishops to look towards dioceses with surging vocations and see what they are doing and what is successful. There’s no excuse for throwing in the towel when you have 14 YEARS to work to correct the problem.
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I could say something about my diocese that is thriving with seminarians…
 
Archbishop Blasé Cupich is embarking on a major reorganization in the Archdiocese of Chicago.
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LOL NBC Chicago really needs to not run this past a spell checker

His name is Blase (Blaze) , NOT Blasé ( Bla-zay) :rolleyes:
 
zz912 said:
Indeed. Time for bishops to look towards dioceses with surging vocations and see what they are doing and what is successful. There’s no excuse for throwing in the towel when you have 14 YEARS to work to correct the problem.
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Well, there’s two ways of looking at this. Either it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy (where people stop giving immediately) or it becomes a wakeup call to address the need for more pastors to serve the rather diverse (20 some languages) population of two counties, not just priests. If need be, I’m sure the archbishop can persuade many of the priests to come out of retirement to fill in the gap.
 
As a Chicagoan, It’s hard for me to trust Cupich.

Cdl. George kept churches open to keep vulnerable parishioners falling prey to resentment and store-front churches that litter our city.

Cardinal Bernardin closed over 40 parishes in 1990-91, including my mother’s former parish. I think this really helped to accelerate blight in many areas.

Secondly, Arcb. Cupich is targeting a heavily-Catholic neighborhood and closing grand, beautiful churches in the name of “progress.” The immediate area is experiencing an influx of “hipsters” - young students and adults who like beer, old stuff, facial hair, expensive tacos, but not religion.

Instead of spending money on consultants to rid our area of congregations, Cupich could have enlisted help of people to rein-in these young newcomers to the area.

Our Archdiocesan young adult ministry is rather disjointed, with some places making it it into frequent socials that revolve around drinking, and the (very) conservative groups not willing to recognize other groups. Those who oversee official young adult ministries here in Chicago tend to have everything revolve around Cupich’s cathedral, or another nearby parish.

Could events to draw young adults be held at parishes in these neighborhoods?

Instead of holding Saturday morning “service projects” to help the “poor schools” of these parishes, perhaps getting people to see these parishes as not struggling, burdensome places but as Catholic churches that are just as worthy of respect and attention could have had far better outcomes than just closing them.
 
JoyIsLikeRain said:
As a Chicagoan, It’s hard for me to trust Cupich.

Cdl. George kept churches open to keep vulnerable parishioners falling prey to resentment and store-front churches that litter our city.

Cardinal Bernardin closed over 40 parishes in 1990-91, including my mother’s former parish. I think this really helped to accelerate blight in many areas.

Secondly, Arcb. Cupich is targeting a heavily-Catholic neighborhood and closing grand, beautiful churches in the name of “progress.” The immediate area is experiencing an influx of “hipsters” - young students and adults who like beer, old stuff, facial hair, expensive tacos, but not religion.

Instead of spending money on consultants to rid our area of congregations, Cupich could have enlisted help of people to rein-in these young newcomers to the area.

Our Archdiocesan young adult ministry is rather disjointed, with some places making it it into frequent socials that revolve around drinking, and the (very) conservative groups not willing to recognize other groups. Those who oversee official young adult ministries here in Chicago tend to have everything revolve around Cupich’s cathedral, or another nearby parish.

Could events to draw young adults be held at parishes in these neighborhoods?

Instead of holding Saturday morning “service projects” to help the “poor schools” of these parishes, perhaps getting people to see these parishes as not struggling, burdensome places but as Catholic churches that are just as worthy of respect and attention could have had far better outcomes than just closing them.
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Good points.

I remember the Bernadin closings well. There was a sentiment floating around after that that one should consider registration with Holy Name Cathedral as that one was the only parish that was guaranteed not to close.

That said, the last time I checked, the Archdiocese was $115 million in debt, much of it being borrowed from the city of Chicago itself. (The St. Sabina project is a separate issue.) And the city has deep financial problems of its own. Things certainly aren’t looking up for the archdiocese.
 
ProVobis said:
If anyone is questioning the OP number of priests, please know that I am too. I found this article and this doesn’t seem to be right either, especially the low number of ordinations during a 14 yr period.

I’ll try to find a resolution to the projection.
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The Pittsburgh diocese is facing the same problem. They are expecting to drop from about 230 priests to under 100 by 2030. That is what the priest at my parish said a few months ago in a homily.
 
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