The city’s Roman Catholics continue to discuss proposed changes to their parishes by the Archdiocese of Newark, with many hoping their church will be among those remaining independent.
The Archdiocese has begun a process that will combine churches in an effort to better utilize facilities and to address their cumulative debt of about $3 million, church officials and insiders said.
The transitions may include the merging of parishes, including Masses and religious staff, or the “linking” of parishes and specific services, as was done in July of last year with St. Mary Star of the Sea and St. Andrew the Apostle parishes, both downtown.
St. Mary and St. Andrew share an administrator, the Rev. Peter Wehrle, and an administrative staff. The two churches maintain their own physical structures and have their own Masses, however.
According to parish leaders, the archdiocese asked for input from Bayonne’s churches by Dec. 8. But others say that date for information submission is actually in mid-November. Still others feel the archdiocese has already made its decisions.
The city underwent a similar process several years ago when it was decided Bayonne had too many Catholic grammar schools to support. That undertaking resulted in the formation of All Saints Catholic Academy, run out of the former St. Mary Grammar School on West 13th Street.
St. Michael’s and St. Joseph’s churches were brought together a few years back in the first of the church austerity moves.
Parish leaders say the changes are necessary since the city’s seven remaining Catholic churches are underutilized. What were once several thriving parishes have changed into ones that have sparse attendances at Masses on any given week.
Church officials and insiders say only 5,000 to 6,000 people attend services on an average weekend. Bayonne has about 65,000 residents.
The other churches are Our Lady of Assumption, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, St. Henry’s, and St. Vincent de Paul.
Rita Maratta, a St. Andrew’s church trustee, is hopeful her church won’t be affected again.
“St. Mary’s and St. Andrew’s have already gone through this linkage,” she said. “It’s the other parishes in Bayonne that are going to see what they‘re going to do. The only thing that could happen to us, and I’m not going to say it’s going to happen, is for us to go from a linkage to a merger.”
But almost a year later, that parish is still feeling the aftereffects of the linkage.
“We’ve gone through the grieving process already,” Maratta said. “Of this linkage, it’s traumatic, especially for those in the parish for years. Some went to school here. Some got married here.”
Marie Pope of St. Henry’s Parish said a meeting was held there on Oct. 23 about the four proposals put forth by the archdiocese. At the meeting, called “New Energies II,” the various scenarios were discussed. They include the possible merger of St. Mary’s and St. Andrew’s, the linkage of Mt. Carmel, Assumption, and St. Michael’s/St. Joseph’s, and the linkage of St. Henry’s and St. Vincent’s.
St. Henry’s has offered another option, that of St. Mary’s-St. Andrew’s-Assumption and Mt. Carmel-St. Michael/St. Joseph mergers. This move would leave St. Henry’s and St. Vincent’s as stand-alone parishes.
“There are a whole lot of criteria that are to be considered,” Pope said. A parish meeting will be held on Thursday, Nov. 6 to discuss the matter further.
St. Vincent’s had a New Energies meeting last week where church members’ opinions were solicited.
“They gave four options of what we think should be the best scenarios of which parishes to close and wish ones to stay open,” said a person with knowledge of the meeting. “A lot of it is speculation right now.”
Some think St. Vincent’s will come out of the process as a wholly independent church because of its geography as the city’s only uptown Catholic church. One person has said the church has historic landmark status, and that could help it in its goal to stay unattached.
The source said the process is complicated by the fact each of the churches owns land, and many still own schools.
Consolidations ‘inevitable’
A Mt. Carmel parishioner described the church consolidations as “inevitable.” The decreased church-going population is a sign of the times, and not limited to Bayonne. With lower attendance comes fewer donations, which exacerbates the problem of paying for church ministries, and the staples of gas, electric, insurance and the like needed to run a parish.
“People forget that running a parish is just like running any other business,” the source said.
The Mt. Carmel parishioner said that years ago, the pews were filled. Now, on some weekends, three quarters of the seats can be empty.
Change is on the way
Last week, New York’s archdiocese announced a church-consolidation plan that would merge or close dozens of parishes.
One thing is certain: changes are on the way, and they are likely to occur as early as next year.
E-mail joepass@hudsonreporter.com.