The 44 Catholic Churches that closed in Allentown diocese PA

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I find that real hard to believe. How can something this happen?:confused:
 
It’s been a little more than a year since the Catholic Diocese of Allentown shuttered a third of its churches, closing parishes in four of its five counties in what leaders said was an inevitable contraction driven by forces beyond their control.
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Often small and sometimes just doors apart, the churches were built to serve immigrants who flooded the region in the 19th and early 20th centuries. While the Mass was celebrated in Latin in those days, the Hungarian, Polish, Italian, German and other non-English speaking faithful needed priests to hear confessions in native tongues.
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As time passed and immigrants assimilated into an English-speaking base, the ethnic churches persisted. And the diocese was able to sustain them until demographic changes – the shifting of populations from city to suburb, and a precipitous decline in priestly vocations in the past five decades – made it untenable.
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mcall.com/news/local/all-online1.6961917jul19,0,3174417.story

So the large number of church closings was in part due to the priest shortage, in part due to population movement, but also due to the over abundance of churches which originally were needed for immigrant populations.
 
The restructuring of the Diocese of Allentown has been painful to many parishoners, as old churches are being closed after 100-plus years of use; generations of believers have been baptized, confirmed, married and buried in these places. The grief of these parishioners is understandable. However, quite a few of the parishes were established during times of immigration, where some of the buildings were very close together, sometimes even next door. This was to accomodate the language/ethnic considerations. Given the financial needs of the Diocese, it was found necessary to consolidate parishes. The bulk of this restructuring has fallen on the shoulders of Bishop Cullen, who has weathered a lot of public criticism for this, especially in The Morning Call. There are some who have posted rather vicious attacks, questioning the motivation in closing some parishes over others(usually about money). As a member of the Diocese, I feel it necessary to support our Bishop in his decisions and to not charge him with financial malfeasance, especially in a public, secular forum. However, I do sympathize with the sadness and loss of the parishioners who have been consolidated. All earthly things change, and eventually disappear. Thankfully, GOD stays the same.
 
Dale_M said:
mcall.com/news/local/all-online1.6961917jul19,0,3174417.story

So the large number of church closings was in part due to the priest shortage, in part due to population movement, but also due to the over abundance of churches which originally were needed for immigrant populations.
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Indeed!

In New England its not uncommon, especially in cities, for a single neighborhood to have three parishes within a short distance. One for the French, one for the Italians, and one for the Irish. But now the French, Italians and Irish have moved to the suburbs and many people who have moved into those neighborhoods are not Catholic. Thus not only do we have a shortage of priests but we have three parishes in a neighborhood that really only needs one.

While there is great sympathy for the fact that immigrants gave of their time, talent, and treasure to build these beautiful churches, the fact remains that our “churchness” comes from the gathered assembly not the physical building.
 
Dale_M said:
So the large number of church closings was in part due to the priest shortage, in part due to population movement, but also due to the over abundance of churches which originally were needed for immigrant populations.
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Actually, if you think about it, the large number of churches was due to ethnic animosity in the region. In my hometown there were separate Irish, Italian, Polish and Slovak churches with parish schools attached. The redundancy is a waste of resources.
 
There were 5 churches in one town with a population of under 5,000 that closed. That’s about the size of town I live in, and we’ve only ever had one Catholic church, even when our population was around 7,000 when I was growing up. How many parishioners could each of the parishes actually have had?

When our diocese started consolidating schools we got nervous as the next nearest school was about a 25 minute drive by car. When we looked up which were closing, they were schools within a half a mile of each other in the city that the diocese’s offices are located (far away). I’d have no problem just going a few more blocks to a church or school. That’s understandable.

I realize there’s sentimental attachment to churches people have been married/baptized/etc. in, but it’s not going to affect their ability to get a Catholic education or get to Mass if there’s another so close…
 
Another thing that’s sometimes overlooked in the sorrow over the closing of a parish is that the new, full parish is likely to be more vibrant and better support the spiritual life of its parishioners.
 
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