New York Archdiocese planning parish closures

[hrmjustin]

AP

NEW YORK -- Faced with a priest shortage and dwindling attendance, the Archdiocese of New York is looking to close and merge some parishes.

The Wall Street Journal says the archdiocese is in discussions with its 368 parishes. It expects to deliver recommendations to Cardinal Timothy Dolan by next summer.

The archdiocese closed 21 parishes in 2007. This year, it also closed 24 Catholic schools.

The Rev. John O'Hara, who's leading the church's effort, says the archdiocese has many churches with attendance well below the building's capacity, making them financially unviable. He says the Catholic church would like to spend more money on education programs.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&id=9331691

[wellstone dem]

1. good, sell the buildings

And give the money to the poor. Pope Francis will be proud. Actually, some churches are seeing attendance increase likely due to Pope Francis.

[hrmjustin]

2. The problem is people would e loosing their parish homes.