Gathering God's Gifts: A New Future for the Diocese

Note: This post is my final project for my coursework, and is therefore a bit more formal and lengthy. Consider yourself warned. ;) Click the play button to the left of each media player to hear clips from audio interviews. Comments are always welcome!

After over two years of intense debate, discussion and prayer, Bishop Joseph Galante of the Diocese of Camden made a sobering address to Catholics of South Jersey: it was time to reconfigure.

In 2006, there were around 175 priests in active ministry for the diocese. That number has been steadily dropping since, and trends suggest there will be only 85 remaining by 2015. This shortage of priests has only further constricted the tight schedules of those still active; some are already serving as pastor for two or more parishes. Similar problems can be found in areas nationwide. In the most dire situations, some parishes are no longer able to celebrate daily or even weekly Masses.

The solution has come in the form of mergers, clusters and closures of many churches in the area. It has been a difficult process that is still progressing in many places, but a few have already completed their mergers.

The initiative, called Gathering God's Gifts, began in 2004 when Bishop Galante first arrived in South Jersey. He held "speak up sessions" throughout the diocese, inviting clergy and laypeople alike to openly express their concerns and suggestions for strengthening the Church locally. From these talks, six points of focus were developed, among them worship, lifelong formation (growth in faith), and young adult ministry.

Parishes then submitted a proposal to the bishop with their suggestions for the future of their community. Galante considered these proposals and on April 3, 2008, declared his intentions for each parish in the diocese. According to an article from the Associated Press, the diocese's 124 churches will be cut down to just 66.

Imaculee Ilibagiza: Forgiveness in Rwanda

On August 15, 1981, the Feast of the Assumption, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three high school and college students in Kibeho, Rwanda with a message: repent and turn to God in prayer. Pray the rosary. Destruction is coming, and if the whole world turns to God, it can be stopped.

The apparitions continued for eight years, and then in 1994, the inconceivable happened--the majority tribe of Hutus began to murder entire families of the upper class Tutsi tribe. These murders quickly turned into widespread, hand-executed genocide that killed over a million people in a span of three months.

Immaculee Ilibagiza was home from university for Easter break when the genocide began, and 15 years later, she is telling the story of her survival that she credits to the grace of God. I had the opportunity to see Immaculee speak this past Tuesday at Assumption Parish in Atco, NJ. She was a dynamic speaker with a powerful and (believe it or not) almost comedic testimony that I'd like to relay for you. Unfortunately, I was unable to take photos or audio at the event; you can find both at the two links above.)

The English are crossing the Tiber!

Edit, 28 Oct. 2009: It has been brought to my attention that, as I predicted, I did botch some key details of this story. First and foremost, the group at the center of this potential conversion is the Tradtional Anglican Communion (TAC), which is not to be confused with the Anglican Communion. The TAC is based worldwide, and not just in England, so the post title of "English" is a misnomer. Furthermore, negotiations for conversion were initiated by those within the TAC, and not the Pope; he only responded to a request from them, and before that was not involved in any sort of intervention. Again, thanks for the information. That's what you all are here for, after all. I appreciate it. ~MLP

I would be remiss as a Catholic blogger (and really, as a journalist) if I didn't cover yesterday's bombshell from the Vatican. In a history-making move, Pope Benedict XVI has made provisions for traditional Anglicans to convert en masse to Catholicism, if they so choose.

I haven't yet found anyone willing to break down the release in layman's terms, so I guess this laywoman will give it her best shot. Bear with me. (I know I have at least one priest reading--COUGH--and he is free to correct me if I botch this.)

First, some background: the Anglican Communion (the Church of England in Britain and the Episcopalian Church of the USA) have been rocked by splits and infighting for a solid decade now over the decision to ordain both women and openly gay men and women as clergy. (Tradiotional Anglicans and Catholics believe, in a nutshell, that only men should be priests because Jesus and His twelve Apostles were all men--He could have chosen women, and had plenty as friends to choose from, but didn't.) Conservative members who disagreed with this progressive move formed other churches under the jurisdiction of bishops in North Africa.

The situation has only gotten worse since, and people on both sides of the debate have been holding their breaths, wondering if the entire Communion will crumble. That was when the Pope stepped in. The conservative side of the Anglican Communion has been in negotiations for an unspecific amount of time about being received into the Catholic Chuch. Benedict has "bent the rules" to ease the transition of these groups by allowing them to retain their unique rituals and hymns while under the leadership of Anglo-Catholic bishops. The new converts would become their own "floating diocese," bound by background instead of geographic location (we do the same thing for the Military Diocese).

Opinions are mixed about the decision, with liberals accusing the Vatican of overstepping their bounds or deepening divisions, but for conservatives in both Churches, this signifies hope for healing.

Jesus founded one Church--not 35,000 separate denominations and churches (according to the Barna group). We're now one huge step closer to seeing that unity made reality again. Regardless of opinion, I think we'll all be praying.

Thomas Peters over at the popular blog American Papist has tons of commentary and resources on the issue. There's also this collection of opinions from the New York Times, compliments of my Online Journalism professor, Mark Berkey-Gerard.