CONSOLIDATIONS Diocese plans church change

Some of the churches are the center of life in rural villages.
TOLEDO (AP) -- A recommendation Friday to close or merge 33 Roman Catholic churches in northwest Ohio can be attributed to shifting populations and the declining number of priests, the bishop said.
The plan, which will be finalized in March, would affect one of every five churches in the Toledo Roman Catholic Diocese, reducing the number of parishes from 157 to 131.
A two-year study by a church committee also recommended that 16 other parishes remain operating but share pastors.
The reductions are far more sweeping than those in other Ohio dioceses. Only a handful of parishes in the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati dioceses have closed in recent years.
Toledo Bishop Leonard Blair asked parishioners at churches on the list for understanding and that they study the reasons behind the decisions.
"Change is always painful," said Blair, who added that he has looked closely at how the diocesan committee came up with the plan.
"This makes sense to me, but I haven't made my decision," Blair said. "I'm open to any observations and counter-suggestions."
The diocese is planning several meetings over the next several months to talk about the closings. Blair said he hopes to visit each of the 33 parishes on the list.
Impact
The diocese has about 307,000 Catholics in 19 counties in northwest Ohio.
Several of the parishes targeted for closing are in rural villages and are the center of life in those areas.
Parishioners at those churches will be impacted greatly, said Sister Joyce Lehman, a member of committee that made the recommendations.
"For some, their grandparents built the churches," she said. "They were married there. It's not just a church. It's really a significant part of their life."
Meetings over the next few months will allow parishioners to express their pain and heal, she said.
"It may not change the outcome," Sister Lehman said. "But it will allow people to express their feelings."
Blair said the reorganization of the parishes is necessary given that so many churches were established when people went to worship by horse and buggy.
Some of these rural churches and others in city neighborhoods today serve a much smaller number of people.
"A century later, is that the best way to meet the needs of the Catholic people?" Blair said. "There have been tremendous changes in the way people live, travel and associate with each other."
The diocese said there now are 137 active priests and estimates that will drop to 105 priests in eight years.
Blair said the shortage of priests is "a growing problem today, but not the only factor when it comes to the future of our parishes."
The Cincinnati Archdiocese has closed four parishes since 2000 and merged three others into one church.
It began planning for changes in the mid-1990s, spokesman Dan Andriacco said.
"What we're going to be doing a lot more is having a priest residing over two or three parishes," he said. "We're trying to cluster these churches so we don't have to shut them down."
Robin Miller, spokeswoman for the Columbus diocese, said just two parishes have closed since 1998. "We've been fortunate," she said. "You try to avoid it as long as you can."