Diocese Hopes to Bring Vibrancy to New Parish

CAMDEN — The Diocese of Camden announced the establishment of a new parish, St. Maximilian Kolbe on Nov. 11. The new parish was formed by consolidation of three local parishes – Church of the Resurrection in Marmora, St. Casmir’s in Woodbine, and St. Elizabeth’s in Goshen.
According to a press release from the diocese, the seat of the new parish will be at the Church of the Resurrection. St. Casmir’s and St. Elizabeth’s will remain open as places of worship.
The reconfiguration of Catholic parishes has been on going in the diocese. In 2005 and 2006 Bishop Joseph Galente held over 140 “Speak Up,” meetings throughout the diocese, enabling him to hear the concerns of over 8,000 faithful.
In a letter to members of the diocese Galente after those meetings, the bishop listed several challenges facing the Church. Among them is an aging priesthood.
“When we started the planning process,” wrote Galente, “there were 171 active diocesan priests serving 124 parishes. By 2015, we anticipate and expect that there will be half that number of priests available…”
Second on the list was the close geographic proximity of local parishes. “They were established in a different era to serve Catholic people that have now moved from former Catholic population centers into other parts of South Jersey or even out of the diocese completely, leaving behind under-utilized and often aging facilities,” wrote Galente.
An increasing diversity of the Catholic people was also listed as a challenge facing the church. “Nationwide, almost 30 percent of Catholics are Latino, as are almost half of all adult Catholics under the age of 40,” said Galente in his letter. “In our own diocese, in addition to our Latino sisters and brothers, we also have growing Filipino, Korean and Vietnamese populations that are bringing great diversity and richness to our church.”
Lastly on the list of challenges facing the diocese is the lessening numbers of Catholics attending Mass. “At its peak, five decades ago, weekly Mass attendance was at 74 percent,” wrote the Bishop. “Today, surveys in our own diocese indicate that fewer than 23 percent of Catholics attend Mass each week.”
The need for priests is at the forefront of merging parishes. In the case of the most recent merger of St. Casmir’s, St. Elizabeth’s and Resurrection, while the three parishes will merge into one, three pastors will also merge into one, with one set of parish priests for all three churches, Peter Feuerherd, Communications Director for the Diocese of Camden told the Herald.
“With the decreasing number of priests,” he said, “We were getting to the point that we were not going to be able to cover all the parishes.”
“The pastor is responsible for every baptized Catholic, whether they show up at church or not,” said Feuerherd.
According to Feuerherd, of the 124 parishes that were in the diocese, the total number of parishes will be closer to 70 once the mergers are done. “We’re getting to the end,” he said. He added that with the merger of the current three parishes into St. Maximilian Kolbe, there are no additional mergers slated for Cape May County.
In addition to the dwindling number of men being called to religious life, some parishes were no longer financially viable.
“There were a lot of parishes that were under water financially,” he said, explaining that some churches had borrowed money from the diocese and were unable to repay their obligation.
“One thing the bishop is concerned about is a vibrant youth ministry,” said Feuerherd. According to Feuerherd, by merging parishes the diocese hopes to bring in youth ministers.
Once the dust settles and the mergers are complete, the diocese hopes parishioners will find peace in their new religious homes.
“It makes parishes more vibrant by combining parishes,” said Feuerherd. “There is a sense of support in numbers, by having a sense of community. The strength of the Catholic church is that it is universal.”