CV NEWS FEED // The archdiocese of Seattle, Washington recently announced that its 136 parishes will be consolidated into a total of 60 “parish families” in a renewal effort responding to declining Mass attendance and a shortage of priests.
This consolidation does not close a large number of the churches, but instead puts one pastor in charge of several parishes. The archdiocese released the finalized list on February 2, defining a parish family as “two or more parishes under the leadership of one pastor.”
The consolidation is a part of the archdiocese’ strategic renewal effort, “Partners in the Gospel.” Archbishop Paul Etienne of Seattle announced the finalized list in a February 2 letter and said that the archdiocese’s “future is filled with hope.”
The archdiocese noted in its finalized list, “Over time, the parish family will determine how it will share resources such as staff, ministries and outreach and grow into one canonical parish over a period of about three years.”
According to local news outlet The Seattle Times, the “archdiocese has pointed to priest shortages, declining Mass attendance and an uncertain financial outlook as some of the factors leading to the consolidation.”
“As of May 2023, 11% of 161 archdiocesan priests were eligible for retirement and 36% were eligible within 10 years, according to a report released last year,” The Seattle Times reported:
Meanwhile, the archdiocese estimated two ordinations per year.
While attendance has declined in many parishes, [archdiocese priest Father Bryan] Dolejsi noted attendance has risen in others, leading to a need to shift resources, he said in an interview.
Etienne said in his February 2 letter, “My hope is that parish families will benefit from the shared gifts of people, time, finances, talents and more so that we, as partners in the Gospel, can truly renew parish life.”
“We need every member of the Church to share their God-given gifts to build up the Body of Christ,” Etienne continued:
Imagine more young people on fire with the faith, more people encountering Christ in the sacraments, more robust outreach ministries serving the marginalized, and churches that are full every Sunday and Holy Days to give praise and thanks to God.This is all possible, and I believe Partners in the Gospel is the key to making it happen.
According to the archdiocese, “Parish families were developed based on parishes’ size, geography, cultural and ethnic makeup, financial health, school presence and other considerations. Some parishes stand alone because they are run by a religious order or serve a specific cultural community.”
The Seattle Times reported that eight “parishes weren’t grouped because they are run by a religious order or serve a specific community, the archdiocese said, such as Vietnamese Martyrs in Tukwila, which holds masses in Vietnamese and English.”
The archdiocese stated on February 2 that Etienne underwent “significant prayer and discernment,” and that the finalized plan took “a year of consultation with the archdiocese’s Presbyteral Council, the Partners in the Gospel Oversight Committee, priests, deacons, parish and school staff, lay leaders and the public.”
“We spent hours in deep discussions and prayer while listening to the Holy Spirit and discerning our path for the future,” Etienne said in his February 2 letter. “I am so grateful to the thousands of people who engaged in the consultation process by providing insights during the input phase, sharing new ideas and praying for this renewal effort.”
Read the full list of new parish families here.
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