Reviews imminent for struggling Roman Catholic parishes in Pittsburgh diocese
Mergers or closures could be proposed as soon as this year for 15 parishes in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, while most will have to wait until early 2018 to learn their fate.
That's when Bishop David Zubik will review feedback from clergy, lay leaders and parishioners on how to reshape the church's presence and better deploy dwindling resources across the diocese's six-county region, as part of a five-year planning initiative called “On Mission for the Church Alive!”
The 15 parishes are facing such dire straits that “prudence does not allow those parishes to await the outcomes of the On Mission process,” said John Flaherty, diocesan secretary for parish life.
Those financially struggling parishes grouped within four areas — Pittsburgh's South Hills, Pittsburgh's West End, Butler County and Washington County — are undergoing separate, more urgent reviews guided by parish pastors.
“These parishes have received permission from Bishop Zubik to consider their circumstances in the near term and to make recommendations in 2016 about their future,” said Flaherty, noting that those suggestions could involve merging parishes and closing church buildings.
Those parishes participating in the “ad-hoc” planning include:
• Four in the South Hills: St. Albert the Great in Baldwin Borough, St. Norbert in Overbrook and St. Basil and St. Wendelin, both in Carrick. Parish leaders have proposed merging into one while keeping all four worship sites open.
• Four in Pittsburgh's West End: St. Philip in Crafton, Ascension in Ingram, Guardian Angels in Crafton Heights, and Holy Innocents in Sheraden. The proposal being considered would merge these parishes into one and retain two worship sites while the church buildings of Guardian Angels and Holy Innocents may close.
• Two in Butler County: St. Matthias in Evans City and St. Gregory in Zelienople. The initial proposal is to combine the administrative functions of the parishes while keeping both worships sites open.
• Five in Washington County: St. Agnes in Richeyville, Ave Maria in Bentleyville, St. Joseph in Roscoe, St. Oliver Plunkett in Fredericktown/Marianna and St. Thomas Aquinas in California. Parish leaders are expected to present their proposed blueprint to the bishop in August.
None of these parish-driven proposals have been finalized.
Meanwhile, the diocese has tabled talks of potential mergers among the following parishes: St. Catherine of Siena and St. Pamphilus in Beechview, and Our Lady of Loreto, St. Pius X and Resurrection in Brookline.
Also as part of the On Mission initiative, the diocese is examining how to increase participation and vibrancy in the church, reorganize its infrastructure and make the most of dwindling resources.
Aside from mergers, the planning process could yield more interfaith cooperation, more rotating priests serving multiple parishes, and innovative ways to appeal to youths and Hispanics, a small but rapidly growing population in Western Pennsylvania.
About half of the Pittsburgh diocese's 200 parishes lost money in 2015, compared to one-third of parishes operating in the red in 2012, diocesan figures show.
Almost 150,000 people attended Mass within the diocese in October — nearly 100,000 fewer than in October 2000 — and elementary school attendance in 2015 fell to 12,000, a 58 percent drop from 2000.
“We need to study to have an accurate picture of where we are now,” Zubik told parishioners in an April 8 open letter published in the Pittsburgh Catholic, “so as to have a clearer picture of where we need to be.”
Natasha Lindstrom is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 412-380-8514 or nlindstrom@tribweb.com.
