JAMAICA — Taking a cue from the recently completed Synod on Synodality, the Diocese of Brooklyn has commenced meetings to gather members of various parishes to get their input on possible mergers.
The first two “Pastoral Planning Information Sessions” were held Oct. 23 at St. Thomas Aquinas in Flatlands, Brooklyn, and Oct. 29 at St. Nicholas of Tolentine in Jamaica, Queens.
At both gatherings, Bishop Robert Brennan said the diocese is considering the mergers of 16 parishes — 10 in Brooklyn and six in Queens — but nothing has been decided. He also noted that diocesan officials don’t want to make unilateral decisions about mergers.
To that end, the information sessions were held to get input from parishioners, help them start discussions with each other, and make recommendations to him.
He said this strategy aligns with the spirit of the Synod on Synodality. The three-year process — Oct. 9, 2021, to Oct. 17, 2024 — prompted forums of listening and dialogue about proposals related to the future of the Church.
The bishop’s co-facilitators included Msgr. Joseph Grimaldi, vicar general for the diocese, and Ana Puente, pastoral support specialist.
Mergers are one way to boost pastoral efficiency for some parishes. Msgr. Grimaldi said that the pairs of parishes are contiguous to one another.
In Queens, the proposed mergers are St. Raphael in Long Island City and St. Teresa in Woodside; American Martyrs in Bayside and Holy Family in Flushing; and Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. Josaphat, both in Bayside.
In Brooklyn, the pairs include Mary Queen of Heaven in Flatlands and St. Bernard Clairvaux in Bergen Beach; St. Brendan in Midwood and St. Edmund in Sheepshead Bay; St. Bernadette in Dyker Heights and St. Frances Cabrini in Bensonhurst; St. Michael and St. Agatha, both in Sunset Park; and Our Lady of Angels and St. Anselm, both in Bay Ridge.
Merging some parishes is a concept gaining traction throughout the United States to improve pastoral efficiency in the face of declining Mass attendances, aging congregations, a priest shortage, and financial challenges.
Of the nearly 5 million people residing in Brooklyn and Queens, an estimated 1.5 million identify as Catholic, according to the diocese, which oversees 172 parishes and 211 churches.
However, like others throughout the U.S., the Diocese of Brooklyn has witnessed sharp declines in attendance.
According to diocese data released last year, the average Mass attendance in 2022 was 124,031, 40% lower than just five years earlier. As a result, Bishop Brennan directed parishes to adjust Mass schedules.
The parishes proposed for mergers face various challenges. For example, some have experienced steep declines in memberships, while others have pastors who expect to retire in the upcoming years.
Bishop Brennan said that filling those openings will shift pastors from other parishes during a priest shortage. In those cases, merging the parish under the pastorship of a neighboring parish might make more sense.
Puente walked the Oct. 29 participants through a three-step process that she said is analogous to the courtship of a wedding couple, but in this case, the two parties are the leaders in the paired parishes.
First, Puente said, comes the “collaboration process” (dating), followed by the “partnership process” (the engagement), and then the “merger process” (the wedding). Now it is up to the various parish leaders to bring it all together, Puente added.
Also, during the Oct. 29 session, Bishop Brennan noted that such mergers aren’t new to the diocese. In July, he announced the merger of four parishes — St. Augustine and St. Francis Xavier in Park Slope and Christ the King and St. Mary Magdalene in Springfield Gardens — into two.
Those followed several mergers over nearly a dozen years at the direction of Bishop Brennan’s predecessor, Bishop Emeritus Nicholas DiMarzio.
“The story of Brooklyn and Queens has been a story of adaptation, of collaboration, and of building us closer together today,” Bishop Brennan said.
