CV NEWS FEED // The archdiocese of Cincinnati is responding to backlash over church and diocesan school closures that are a part of the archdiocese’s “Beacons of Light” pastoral planning initiative.
The Beacons of Light initiative, announced in 2021 by Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr, is a response to decreasing Mass attendance and fewer financial and human resources. Schnurr did note in his announcement that amid this decline, the archdiocese has seen an increase in vocations to the priesthood.
Over the course of several years, 208 parishes will merge into 57 parish families. Parish families are generally defined as multiple parishes under the care of one pastor. By 2027, all parishes in the archdiocese are expected to have finalized the process.
According to the Pillar, nearly 70% of all the archdiocese’s churches could face closure as they merge with other parishes as a result of the initiative.
According to local Cincinnati news outlet ABC WCPO 9, some parishioners in the archdiocese are expressing opposition to the initiative, saying that there is not a just reason to close the churches.
In a statement, archdiocese spokeswoman Jennifer Schack told WCPO 9, “Any decrees relative to a modification of a parish that will come out of the Chancery in the future will include just cause determined by the parish themselves.”
“Pastors and parishioners, working together and after extensive consultation, may propose modification of parishes by merger or amalgamation,” Schack added.
Schack emphasized that the archdiocese is working to be transparent with parishioners about the closures and the decisions being made. The archdiocese is working to accomplish this through “listening sessions, training sessions and a Beacons of Light website that has been viewed 1.2 million times by nearly 900,000 visitors since it was created,” WCPO 9 reported:
Newsletters like the Beacons Update have delivered more than 389,000 emails and Archbishop Dennis Schnurr has written more than a half dozen letters to local Catholics about the topic.
In his most recent letter on Jan. 24, Schnurr said his goal is to make merged parishes “strong, joyful communities of evangelization and service centered on the Eucharist, together with growing in faith and radiating the love of Christ into the world. We need to keep this vision in mind to avoid simply getting mired in the details.”
