Catholics see Archdiocese of Detroit's reorganization as challenge to faith community – The Detroit News

Canton Township — Jennifer Ostos wasn’t surprised to hear that the Archdiocese of Detroit would be closing some parishes and undergoing a two-year restructuring project.
Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger announced to Detroit’s Catholic community earlier this month that the Christian network made up of 200 parishes in southeast Michigan would not be be able to keep up with its buildings while the number of Mass-attending Catholics is decreasing.
The Archdiocese of Detroit is currently working to “right-size and reallocate personal and financial resources.”
The news sparked questions and concerns from parishioners who wondered if closing churches would make it even more difficult to draw people who may have trouble with transportation.
“I saw it coming … they named us a family of parishes, they were regrouping the parishes and we share priests already, so they take turns for Mass,” Ostos, 48, said before walking into an afternoon Mass at St. John Neumann in Canton Township.
“We need more vocations to priesthoods — that’s a part of it but that’s a slow process. We have a good Catholic population but half of it comes to church, so if they’re engaged maybe it could get better,” she said. “It’s challenging.”
On its site dedicated to the restructuring, it reported that 142 parishes, or 67%, see less than 600 Mass participants on a weekly basis. Sacraments including confirmations, first Communions and baptisms as well as the number of ordained priests in the Archdiocese of Detroit are declining, according to its data.
The archdiocese embarked on a Families of Parishes plan launched in 2020 partly in response to the dwindling number of clergy, announcing at the time that houses of worship were transitioning to a new model in a major structural change to bring tighter collaborations and sharing assets.
St. Thomas a’Becket, St. John Neumann, Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, and Resurrection Parish recently became a “Family of Parishes” — where priests, deacons, religious, and lay staff associated with the individual parishes are shared amongst the four churches.
After seeing some restructuring, Barbara Smyth of Canton Township wondered what another announcement would mean for their community.
She attended Mass Sunday morning at St. Thomas a’Becket with her daughter Katie Mara, 48, and said she believed the closing of some churches would be inevitable but was concerned if it would be a benefit or a downfall.
“The parishes are shrinking, not enough people are coming,” Smyth, 86, said. “The only thing you can do for restructuring is closing parishes, how else do you restructure?
“If you have to travel father to go to Mass are people going to bother (if) they go now. I probably would but I’m not sure everybody would,” Smyth said.
Mara added: “If transportation is an issue then that’d affect their ability to attend Mass.”
The mother and daughter have been going to St. Thomas a’Becket since 2001 and said they noticed a decline in attendance after the COVID-19 pandemic. Smyth is hopeful that the Catholic educational content she sees on social media might encourage non-Catholics and Catholics to gain interest in attending Mass.
Dolores Libeau, 70, of Canton Township said reconstruction may be good for the church if it doesn’t negatively impact parishioners. She and several others attended an afternoon Mass at St. John Neumann Sunday.
“If they’re going to close their parish and they’ve been in that parish for a long time, they’re going to be devastated of course, they have to get adjusted to going to a new church.
“I’m very proud to say that our church is very much alive being a big church and we’re very active,” she said. She called the church she’s been attending for over 30 years her second home.
Delphine Gamnje, 49, saw the announcement from Weisenberger as a call to be mission ready and more engaged in her parish’s organizations. She’s attended Masses at both St. Thomas a’Becket and St. John Neumann for nearly two decades.
“No matter how small it is, play a role in something because if everybody were to sit back and say ‘I don’t have time,’ then who is going to do it? So, I just feel like I am compelled to do something.”
mjohnson@detroitnews.com

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