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Fr. Stephen's avatar

The Archdiocese of Detroit is undergoing the same sort of restructuring (though less of a dramatic consolidation than Cincinnati) using the same "families of parishes" term. Word on the street from the AOD is that priests have not bought into the idea. Reasons for the priest's resistence range from fear that individual priest autonomy will be compromised (especially among the priests who wouldn't be given a chance at the "super pastor" position to lead each family of parishes) to bolder claims that the restructuing is canonically illegal. It'll be interesting to see how it works out in Cincinnati. It seems to me the families of parishes model makes priests do most of the bending while parish closures makes parishioners embrace the greater sacrifice. I hope it works out and give props to Schnurr, but unforunately there's always going to be a few eggs that have to break to make this type of omlette.

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Todd Voss's avatar

As a layperson myself, I have very little sympathy for the laity on this issue. The primary reason parishes close is that too many Catholics quit going to mass and were no longer active personally and financially. That's primarily why parishes die. It has less to do with the hierarchy and their failings.

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