Bishops and Closing Down Parishes

Some bishops want to close parishes which are not financially viable. In the absence of parishes in the red, they look at sacramental liveliness, such as how many marriages, how many baptisms per year, and so on, not counting funerals.

I suggest a simple means of deciding as to whether a parish should be allowed to stay open or not. If a parish has not had a priestly vocation for 50 years, that parish should be on the top of the list for closure.

If a Catholic school has not had a vocation for 50 years, the school should be closed.

Viability means more than numbers of lay sacraments or finances. The spiritual life of a parish could be determined by vocations.

It is interesting that the last six vocations in this diocese, have all been Latin Mass young men.

Interesting.