Flickr | Nan Palmero
CHICAGO (FOX 32 / AP) — The Archdiocese of Chicago expects to close an undetermined number of parishes in coming years due largely to a shortage of priests.
Archbishop Blase Cupich outlined a "multi-year planning process" in a column in this week's archdiocesan newsletter, Catholic New World.
He says "demographics have shifted dramatically" in recent decades, buildings are in disrepair and fewer priests means resources are spread too thinly.
Cupich says by the time the process is complete "we will mourn together the loss of some parishes."
It’s a plan that isn't sitting well with some followers.
“I'd be really sad...I'd have to go find another one, hopefully they wouldn't close too many around me,” said Chicago parishioner Adebola Giwa.
FOX 32's Scott Schneider spent time Friday with one of the priests who will make a recommendation as to which churches stay open and which close their doors for good.
“The community that I have there, the others who go there, the programs that they put on throughout the city are a very important part of what I do every week,” said Aaron Keller.
More than aging infrastructure, the church is also facing a manpower shortage and with many priests set to retire this decade and fewer young men going into the cloth, the diocese could find itself with dozens of churches and no one to place at the pulpit.
St. Phillip Neri in South Shore has only one resident pastor who says the declining number of young men going into the clergy is the direct result of what he describes as a lack of support at home.
“Families are very important. They are the key component, if you do not have mother and father who are backing their young man who is considering priesthood he's not going to pursue it necessarily,” Keller said.
Also plaguing the diocese is a growing number of parishes that have been operating in the red for far too long. St. Phillip remains open despite being in a fiscal deficit since 1992.
“How can we streamline these satellite parishes to really come together as one parish then the deficit can become less and be erased,” said Reverend Thomas Belanger.
Chief Operating Officer Betsy Bohlen said Friday that the archdiocese — which has 351 parishes — expects to have about 240 priests by 2030.
She says the archdiocese still can't say how many churches will be closed because some parishes could merge.