I am. It’s becoming increasingly apparent this will be a one-at-a-time conversion, if any. So far the only post-88 “conversions” have been to the FSSP. A single bishop has yet to be “converted.”
I meant comparatively within the SSPX. Bp. Felley seems to be one of the only ones (and certainly the only one of the bishops) who’s actually in favour of regularization.
I’ll can go a step further and look at my own diocese who is closing 50 churches and doesn’t have enough priests.
And what is the context for the closings?
Many churches that have been closed are old national/ethnic parishes (also called personal parishes). The people (Irish/Polish/Italian/whoever) have moved away from that area, and there’s probably another regular territorial church in the area. That’s simple consolidation, and not something to be worried about.
In other cases? There is a bit of supply and demand going on. In my city, an older parish in a mature neighbourhood was closed while a new one is being built in a newer area. We don’t like to think of it this way, but parishes require money for upkeep, and if there’s 2 in one area and neither is getting enough money (and neither has full Masses) then the best course is to consolidate.
Another case is very old parishes. Sure, they “look nice”, but maintenance requires an arm and a leg every month, and that’s money that could be used for more important things.
Also, some cities and diocese simply have too many parishes. They were built before transportation around a city was easy, so you have (in extreme cases) 1 every neighbourhood. There’s simply no need to have so many when diocese can be served more effectively and efficiently by few parishes without too much disruption. That’s just long-term planning.
Finally, yes, some parishes are being closed due to lack of priests. So pray for vocations, and there might have to be some pain in the interim.
It’s my opinion against your opinion. Be not afraid doesn’t mean ignore the issues, sit on your hands and do nothing. It means don’t be afraid to witness to the Faith. Which is much needed in our time.
It also means “don’t panic and run around like a chicken with it’s head cut off”.
It means that we know that we’re going to weather whatever storm is happening now. Rome knows where it wants to go and has set a course (long-long-long term).
The SSPX, on the other hand, seems too afraid to do anything. All they seem to talk about is fear, and uncertainty, and doubt (what we like to call FUD). It almost seems like they’re strategizing on this whole process when all they really need to do is jump.
You can see the FUD on this forum. How many questions have we seen where someone will ask “what will happen if X bishop doesn’t like them”, or “what will happen if P, Q, and R are in the Prelature statues”, and several times we’ve even seen “what’s the point if all they’re going to get are restrictions?” Fear. Uncertainty. Doubt. All 3 are opposed to Hope, which should be driving them. What they need is Faith to leap to the other side (because that is where the Church is), Hope to know that whatever they find things are going to work out (because the Holy Spirit’s got our backs), and to do it in Charity (even a little bit of intellectual charity would be a good start).
Instead they fear making the jump, they’re paralyzed because they can’t be 100% sure what they’ll find (not that 100% assurances are ever possible, mind you), and they wonder if they should even try and always seem to assume bad faith on the part of the Vatican.
