The Most Reverend Edward P. Cullen, Bishop of Allentown has accepted the recommendations of the Diocesan Pastoral Council and the Council of Priests for a set of criteria to be used by the 33 Deanery Region Committees around the Diocese when considering the possible restructuring of parishes.

   Beth Beers of Bath, President of the Diocesan Pastoral Council (DPC) said "The DPC worked very hard in achieving a set of guidelines that balanced the practical needs of the Diocese with the emotional needs of all of the parishioners. It's a valuable working document that, while strict in its structure, is also flexible to accommodate the needs of the parishes."

  Accompanying the criteria is a set of six guidelines for implementing any proposed restructuring and a glossary that defines eleven terms used in the process.

I. CRITERIA FOR PARISH RESTRUCTURING

A. Each pastor will be assigned to only one parish.

B. No new mission chapels or worship sites shall be established. Existing mission chapels and worship sites may remain in use, only with the recommendation of the Diocesan Pastoral Council and Episcopal approval.

C. The desired proportion of priests to people is 1 to 2,400.

D. When a merger or consolidation occurs, consideration must be given to the financial status of each of the original parishes so that, where feasible, the goal of establishing a fiscally sound parish is achieved.

E. The process of restructuring shall be conducted with an emphasis on territoriality, i.e. the parishes resulting from mergers or consolidations shall be erected as territorial parishes with new boundaries.

F. When a merger of parishes is indicated and one of the existing sites will be retained, the process to determine which church building is to be retained must consider at least the following items:

1) The physical condition of the church building

2) The size of the church building (relative to the combined average Sunday Mass attendance of the combined parishes)

3) Accessibility for the physically disabled (and where it does not exist, the feasibility of making it accessible)

4) Parking

5) Location of the church building in relation to membership of the parish

6) Location of the church building in relation to existing support buildings (rectory, parish office, school, gymnasium, etc.)

7) The size and condition of the existing support buildings.

G. When a consolidation of parishes is indicated, the process to determine which church building is to be retained must consider at least the following items:

1) The physical condition of the church buildings

2) The size of the church buildings (relative to the combined average Sunday Mass attendance of the combined parishes)

3) Accessibility for the physically disabled (and where it does not exist, the feasibility of making it accessible)

4) Parking

5) Location of the church buildings in relation to membership of the parish

6) Location of the church buildings in relation to existing support buildings (rectory, parish office, school, gymnasium, etc.)

7) The size and condition of the existing support buildings.

H. When a merger or consolidation occurs, the demographic factors of the area shall to be taken into account, including the median age of the proposed restructured parish, and any population shifts that are taking place or will take place in the near future.

II. Implementation Guidelines

A. The deanery region committees shall be permitted to suggest three names for the merged parish. The names should not reflect any of the titles of the former parishes or represent the ethnic backgrounds of any of the previously existing parishes. The bishop will make the final selection of the name of the new parish.

B. Before any parish is merged or consolidated, a complete inventory of all the goods of the parishes shall be completed.

C. When parishes are merged or consolidated, the restructured parish will be permitted to select religious and sacred objects from all of the parishes involved. Any remaining objects may then be dispersed according to the norm of church law. Any proceeds shall go to the restructured parish.

D. A consultation team consisting of various diocesan personnel shall be available to assist each Vicar Forane during the consolidation process.

E. Requests for exceptions to any of these criteria can be made, in writing, directly to the diocesan Bishop.

 

Glossary of Terms for the Restructuring Process

Restructuring (ed): A general term used to describe the process or the result of either a consolidation or merger process.

Consolidation: The process by which several parishes are joined together in an existing parish that retains its juridic identity, including its name. The "retained" parish becomes the recipient of the parishioners, assets, and liabilities of all the other parishes that were assumed by it. The assumed parishes are suppressed.

Merger: The process by which several parishes are joined together to create a new parish with a new juridic personality. It is also given a new name. The new parish may or may not retain one of the church buildings from one of the joining parishes. The new parish becomes the recipient of the assets, liabilities, and parishioners of the joining parishes.

Territorial Parish: A parish that is organized according to a specific geographic territory, serving all the Christian faithful of that territory. (See c 518)

National Parish: (a.k.a.-personal or ethnic parish) A parish established to serve the needs of the Christian faithful in a specific area by reason of rite, language, or nationality. (See c 518)

Mission Chapel: A place of worship, having its own proper pastor and created with the expectation that it will eventually develop into a separate parish with its own juridic personality but is presently impeded from doing this for some reason. The correct canonical term for this entity is a quasi-parish. (See c 516 §1)

Worship Site: A place of worship that is designated for the benefit of some community or group of the faithful, without the expectation that it will become a parish of its own. The correct canonical term for this entity is an oratory. (See c 1223)

Parish title: The name given to a canonical parish, which is distinct from the title of a church building. This may be suppressed, altered, or created by the diocesan bishop.

Title of Church Building: The name given to the church building. The diocesan bishop may change the title of a church building if the building was only dedicated (according to the 1917 Code of Canon Law.) If, however, the church building was consecrated, the title may only be changed with permission of the Holy See. (See c 1218)

Assets: The real property, religious articles, sacred and secular furnishings, and funds owned by a parish, in other words all those temporal goods owned by the parish.

Liabilities: the outstanding debts for which a parish is responsible: mortgages, loans, outstanding diocesan assessments, school subsidies, utility bills, payroll and other taxes, etc.

Copyright 2003 The Catholic Diocese of Allentown
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