Michigan diocese faces more than 50 parish closings

by Tom Gallagher

NCR Today

According to the Traverse City Record-Eagle:

More than 50 Catholic churches and other worship sites in 11 Michigan counties could be closed as part of a reorganization by the Diocese of Saginaw.

The diocese has proposed reducing its 105 churches by more than half and closing 18 additional sites by July 2013, according to MLive.com.
Diocese officials are faced with declining membership. The number of parishioners has dropped by more than 51,000 since 1988. Current membership is close to 109,000.

The diocese's top official, the Most Rev. Bishop Joseph R. Cistone, said the Saginaw diocese is going through an "emotional time."

You think?

Before a so-called "new evangelization" is implemented, it might do the diocese well to figure out why the "old evangelization" appears to have been a complete and colossal failure.

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