LETTER
OF ARCHBISHOP O'BRIEN
RE: PARISH REVIEW COMMITTEE
Dear Friends in Christ:
In the Summer 2010 edition of Journey, I
wrote an article in which I indicated that I had established a
Parish Review Committee, comprised of representatives of clergy,
religious and laity, to provide advice to me on planning for the
future of the Archdiocese.
The Committee was given three distinct tasks:
to propose a policy for altering or closing parishes or
missions; to recommend a process and procedures which will
ensure appropriate consultation and communication among parishes
concerned; and to develop a checklist of issues or questions
that would need to be addressed when a parish or mission is
either clustered or closed. The work of the Committee is now
complete.
The Committee has developed a set of Guiding
Principles, a Policy Statement, and a statement of Procedures
for Implementation of Parish Review. These documents have been
endorsed by the Council of Priests and approved by me. A copy of
each is included with this letter.
It will, I think, be of interest to you to
know something of the specific situation addressed by the Parish
Review Committee. At the present time, there are 71 church
communities in the Archdiocese of Kingston, served by 47
priests. Of that number, 31 are priests of the Archdiocese, and
16 belong to other dioceses or religious communities. These
figures contain no provision for retirement or illness.
As I noted in the Journey article, faced with
a shortage of priests, increased costs, buildings in need of
repair, and a decline in church attendance in some communities,
it is necessary to examine how best to provide ministry in the
years to come. It is important to remember as well that
restructuring of parishes may provide an opportunity for renewed
parish life, with more involvement by the laity, greater shared
resources, and more inter-parish activity.
In order to carry out the recommendations of
the Review Committee, an Implementation Committee will be
established within the next few months. Additional information
will be provided to you as the Implementation Committee
continues its work. I am most anxious that the principles of
accountability and transparency, outlined in the Guiding
Principles of Parish Review, be faithfully observed.
It is my intention that the Implementation
Committee will be principally involved in long-range planning
for the Archdiocese. I realize, too, that situations requiring
immediate attention may present themselves from time to time. I
think, for example, of an instance in which, with little advance
notice, there may not be enough priests to cover existing Mass
schedules in the parishes of a given area. In that case, I may
have to direct the parish(es) to reduce the total number of
Masses celebrated, and request that the Implementation Committee
begin considering a more permanent arrangement.
While I realize that the changes foreseen in
this process will not affect all parishes immediately, we are an
Archdiocesan family; and I ask for – and count on – the
cooperation, continued support, and prayer of everyone, so that
together we can plan for the future of this Archdiocese.
Sincerely in Christ,
+ Brendan M. O'Brien
Archbishop of Kingston
Read at all parishes the weekend of 12-13
February 2011
click here
to access a copy of the four-page flyer
