In the last fiscal year, 31 of the 124 parishes in the diocese were unable to meet basic, annual operating expenses. Another 10 parishes either had significant debt that they are unable to repay, had difficulty meeting their operating expenses, or both.

And that was before the economic downturn that began last fall.

“The question is not whether these parishes have adequate resources to properly staff their parishes and carry out much needed ministries. The unfortunate reality is that almost one-third of the parishes are unable to meet even basic operating expenses. These are parishes that struggle to pay their utility bills. They are in deficit spending with no end in sight and sadly, parish resources are being depleted,” said William Murray, Financial Officer for the diocese.

Twelve million dollars in parish debt was forgiven by the diocese in the Jubilee Year 2000. According to Murray, since then, another $11 million in parish debt has been incurred, and continues to mount, by parishes that are struggling financially.

Many of the factors driving parish reconfiguration in the diocese — shifting populations, changing demographics, a decline in religious practice, and parish facilities that are in close geographic proximity to each other — have contributed to a situation where there are under-utilized parish facilities and inadequate resources. On average churches are less than half full, and many are even less attended. This has resulted in collection income insufficient to sustain the parishes and to maintain their facilities.

According to diocesan spokesman Andrew Walton, these challenges did not develop overnight.

“These are not recent trends, but long-term, long-standing challenges that have grown over many decades. Some may wish to defer action, deny reality, or pretend the problems will go away on their own, but this strategy of deferral and denial has gone on too long and cannot continue if parishes are to meet the needs of the Catholic people in South Jersey,” said Walton.

“While financial matters were not the primary consideration in the parish planning process, which was undertaken to create stronger, more vibrant parishes, it certainly has bearing on the ability of a parish to serve the people well with competent, paid staff collaborating with parish priests, staff and volunteers to carry out much needed ministries,” he said.

When the planning process began in 2006, only one parish in the diocese had a full-time paid youth minister. “The simple fact is that good ministry costs money. The chief goal is not only financial viability, but good ministry and pastoral care of the people.”

After hearing the needs of the people at Speak Up sessions soon after his installation in 2005 and 2006, Bishop Joseph Galante said that it became obvious to him that many parishes on their own lacked the means to address these needs given their limited resources. He said this is what motivated him to initiate the parish planning process in fall 2006 in order to strengthen and revitalize parish life and to address the challenges facing the parishes and the diocese.

After months of study and extensive consultation, Bishop Galante announced in April 2008 his intention to reconfigure parishes through clustering and merging. He has emphasized that merging parishes can combine resources, realize economies of scale and focus parishioner energies in order to create a stronger, more vibrant communities of faith.

Faced with many of the same longstanding pressures, many other dioceses have announced or are pursuing parish restructuring plans, including in the (arch)dioceses of New York, Buffalo, Allentown, Springfield, Greensburg, Scranton, Albany and Cleveland. Last week, Cleveland Bishop Richard Lennon said that by next year, 29 parishes will close and 41 others will merge to form 18 parishes.

Share Link: