Dubuque, Iowa, Archbishop Thomas Zinkula has defended plans for major restructuring in 2027, even as many of the faithful worry it will lead to a weakened archdiocese.
The archdiocese has 85 priests serving in active ministry for about 160 parishes, but by 2040 there is projected to be just 55 priests, according to The Gazette. Additionally, Mass attendance since 2006 across the archdiocese has dropped by 46% since 2006, as CatholicVote previously reported.
Archbishop Zinkula said attending Mass each week in mostly empty churches isn’t as life-giving or celebratory as doing so in a mostly full church.
“To make it more vibrant and alive, we won’t have Sunday Mass at every single church, to bring our people together more,” Archbishop Zinkula said, according to The Gazette. “We need to share resources so that we can do a better job of formation, have better liturgies and better outreach. Rather than being turned inward to ‘my parish, my church,’ we need to reach out. That’s going to be healthier in the long run.”
There are several proposed restructuring plans, but all involve major consolidation. Under each plan, 83 churches would no longer have weekend Masses because 161 parishes would be consolidated into about 28 “pastorates.”
The archdiocese has sought feedback from its members, and some are objecting to the plan.
Ryan Wolf is a senior at Iowa State University and a longtime parishioner of St. Clement Catholic Church in Bankston. He worries about the long-term impact of restructuring and feels like the laypeople aren’t really being included in the decision-making process.
“If we stop having the weekend Mass, does it make it easier for the archdiocese to decide to close the church altogether later on?” Wolf said, according to The Gazette. “It seems as though some of the decisions may have already been made, as though the Journey in Faith process is more of a formality to try to inform people of the decision and make them feel as though they were a part of it.”
Wolf suggested all churches continue to have Sunday Mass but churches with multiple weekend Masses cut down the number of liturgies they hold. However, Archbishop Zinkula said priests are already “struggling” to celebrate Mass at so many parishes, and such a plan would not provide the needed relief.
Mary Goedken, a parishioner at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Petersburg, is worried restructuring will just exacerbate the archdiocese’s problems.
“My concern is the [merging] of all these churches is going to accelerate the further demise of the Catholic faith in this area … and it’s going to lead to further decreased [Mass] attendance,” Goedken said.
The archbishop said he believes the archdiocese’s challenges run deep and the work of consolidation is necessary.
“The demographics have shifted so much, people aren’t practicing as faithfully, and we can’t just ignore that and continue on in maintenance mode and watch things decline,” he told The Gazette. “As the shepherd of this archdiocese, I can’t watch that happen and do nothing.
“It’s a hard thing we’re doing together, and everybody’s going to be affected in one way or another, … but what I’m hoping for is that yes, there’s pruning of the vine, but then on the other end of it, there’ll be new life and good fruit that comes from this.”
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