Posted on 01/08/2009 12:52:25 PM PST by NYer
COLONIE-- Roughly 20 percent of worship sites in the 164-parish Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany will close or merge in an unprecedented restructuring plan expected to be released this month, Bishop Howard Hubbard said Wednesday.
But Hubbard said his decisions will largely hew to the recommendations of 38 local planning groups from across the 14-county diocese. Those panels of lay Catholics and priests analyzed parish resources and made suggestions to Hubbard in June as to which churches should merge or close.
"There will be some surprises," Hubbard said. "There will be some places that were recommended for closure that won't close. And there are some places that people are at least hoping that they've made a strong enough case that their parish would stay open and that will not happen."
Hubbard spoke during a meeting with reporters and editors at the Times Union's Colonie office Wednesday afternoon. The remarks were his most detailed public comments to date on the outcome of a two-and-a-half year restructuring project that has aroused anxiety across the diocese.
In June, the Times Union reported that at least 19 churches would close or merge throughout the Capital Region's urban core under recommendations that the local planning groups submitted to Hubbard.
The plans proposed then would be particularly painful for Troy. Planners recommended closing six of the Collar City's dozen Catholic churches, including St. Patrick's, Hubbard's home parish, and St. Peter's, the state's third-oldest Catholic parish.
Albany, like other dioceses across the Northeast, is grappling with urban flight and a shortage of priests. Since 1960, the city of Troy has lost 34 percent of its population, Albany declined 27 percent, and Schenectady dropped 25 percent.
In the interview Wednesday, Hubbard touched on another factor that, for some, could be as painful as closing parishes.
"There will be people who will be losing their jobs" after the plan is announced, he said.
It's unclear right now how many people that will be, Hubbard said. But the types of positions affected could include parish life and faith formation directors, people who care for the elderly, bookkeepers and secretaries, Hubbard said.
And the diocese will try to place as many displaced workers as possible in jobs within the vast Catholic employment network -- schools, Catholic Charities, hospitals and nursing homes.
"We'll try to do what we can to make sure that people who are being displaced find another job," Hubbard said. "We can't promise that. But we'll do the best we can."
Then there are the properties that will be sold. First preference, Hubbard said, would go to religious uses. Second would be nonprofits, and third would be the commercial sector.
"Any assets of a parish that's closed or merged, be it savings that they have or proceeds that come from the sale of the property, they will go to the successor parish or to the local community," Hubbard said. "In other words, the finances remain locally. They're not going to the diocese."
For parishioners like Maureen Noonan of St. Peter's in Troy, all that is to be done now is wait.
Church members are planning to celebrate St. Peter's 185th anniversary this year, the lifelong parishioner said.
"Until they hear the words," the 71-year-old said, "they're going to keep hoping."
You can yell at the bishops but if the people are not giving enough to keep the parish open there are few alternatives.
It could be the bishop’s weakness and it could be the priests in certain parishes but the one thing I have noticed coming from Protestantism to Catholicism is that Catholics don’t give a lot of money. They expect a lot and give very little.
Another thing is that many priests spend parishes into insolvency.
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