DETROIT (WXYZ) — The Archdiocese of Detroit said it plans to restructure and close buildings.
On Saturday, Archbishop Edward Weisenburger wrote a letter to parishioners announcing the two-year plan. He cited a drop in church membership and participation. In recent years, the Catholic church has also reported a priest shortage.
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"We have been struggling to maintain buildings, ministries and strand parish structures that were designed for a much larger Church," he wrote in the letter.
"When we have a church that seats a thousand and there's 60 people showing up for Sunday, they're going to have a hard time meeting their insurance bill," Weisenburger told news media at a press conference on Monday.
He said while the Archdiocese of Detroit has nearly 900,000 members, only a small fraction are active.
"Our statistics tell us we have around 150,000 people who are regularly attending mass," Father Mario Amore added.
That's not enough to pay the bills.
So, archdiocese leaders said each church will need to submit financial reports that will be available for parishioners to view this winter. That's before any final decisions are made.
"It doesn't necessarily mean because a parish is having financial problems or right now or that. Just because their population might be low, it doesn't necessarily indicate that that parish or that building would close. We're just trying to give all of the information to be as transparent as possible," Amore explained.
Weisenburger added, "It definitely will not be done by the numbers. If that was the case, it would rather quick and simple. We realize each parish is a community and it's a family, so there are non-measurables I believe will need to be taken into account as well."
7 News Detroit spoke with several Catholics attending mass on Monday.
When asked what it'll take to reverse the downtrend, Tom McGlynn replied, "Start building up the family again, the way God intended it. Ya know, start having babies."
Kam Kewson said, "The only thing that I'm concerned about is churches that have schools... You're asking that community to shut down really."
Rita Hajjar said, "Changes can happen as long as it's under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. So, we pray and trust all will be well."
The archdiocese said it plans to hold listening sessions this spring for parishioners to attend and give feedback. 7 News Detroit will make that information available on our website once the archdiocese shares those details.
