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Image provided by: Rochester Regional Library Council
> .^^w^ae^^^SSSfnsvwwrawnWo^MVTMJ^pvcrns .,.,««*m»w^™~,M«^«KB^ •>•»«»» »*•*•* -' * ^«ws^^'^^^*>-.v^^«^r^ii^siW£^s^! i! Ruling fomificQtions Hw *ie©*y^or-olct Supname Court ail- ing ordering public $diooi remedial teochers ogt of porochtot classrooms has engendered a host dl responses from diocesan schools. Page S. Conquering Crusaders J0m»a Hoite Dame flipped Hework N^iey in a key<iMs*oriotfcK«b>3li9^nTe tost Friday flight, «na*fcfr*9 the first time ib& Crusadert hove e^f beater* the mighty Cardinals. Page 16. 4; 1 •t.' Catholic Diocese of Rochester 50 Cents Thursday, October 13. 1988 24 Pages Detroit archdiocese reels from parish-closing plan Detroit (NC) — The Detroit Archdiocese will close 46 parishes, more than 40 percent of the city's Catholic churches — if a major re- organization plan recommended by two arch- diocesan committees is put into practice. The Urban Advisory Board and Implemen- tation Committee outlined their recommenda- tions during an archdiocesan-wide telebriefing September 28. The committees, formed last year to strengthen the church in urban areas in light of falling parish enrollment, declining priest numbers and rising costs recommended: • Closing 45 Detroit parishes and one rec- tory fn nearby River Rouge; • Designating two parishes as shrines; • Establishing five new parishes; and • Giving preference to minority leadership in parishes, especially blacks and Hispanics, particularly in the formation of new parishes out of the \-merger of existing parishes. In closing 46 parishes and. opening five others, the total number of parishes in the city would drop from til to 70. , ^.Church .historianMansignorJoJw,Tracy El- lis toldt|hei£>#m«t Free Press, \I don*t think youscSuiaJfmi||P«rigie' ftistoricaF parallel to this\ Parish closings are occurring in other di- oceses, he said, \but nowhere near these numbers\ The parishes studied by the committees are in the city of Detroit and in.Hamtramck and Highland Park, both located-within the bound- aries of Detroit. The recommendations pro- posed no changes in Highland Park, Hamtramck or the four parishes within the central business district in downtown Detroit. Parishes may ask for hearings to review their status. Such hearings will be held in late- October, November and December, and Cardi- nal Edmund C. Szoka of Detroit is expected to make a final decision concerning the clos- ings in January. In an interview with The Michigan Catho- For reaction to the Detroit parish closings, seepage 5. lie, archdiocesan newspaper, Auxiliary Bishop Patrick R. Cooney, who headed the task force on the church in the city, stressed that the recommendations \very possibly could change\ as a result of the hearings. \And even when Finalized, the cardinal may choose not to follow\ those recommendations. \I'm not sure I'd bet a lot of money that things will eventually go the way of the recom- mendations. I doubt it will. It's possible, based on the hearings and other happenings since the study began, that a recommendation may be thrown out!' Bishop Cooney said. The recommendations follow four years of study on the viability of city churches. The committees considered each parish's ministerial service, the number of available clergy, the par- ish's financial state, geographical location and the conditions the parish buildings. The.com- -rrQ^s^id^a^yisitrith^p^ttishesj A $#3^%, The committees' study concentrated on 112 parishes in Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park and^t. Ambrose Parish in Grosse Point park. St. Ambrose's parish school is located in Detroit. The committees also recommended the es- tablishment of five new parishes in Detroit, possibly with a new name at the site of parishioners' choosing, with the merger of several small parishes. The closing of a parish does not necessarily mean that the parish school will also close, ac- cording to Bishop Cooney. He said no decision has been made on the disposal of buildings, since no final decisions on closings have been made. The bishop said he expected some properties would be sold, leased or used by other archdiocesan or com- munity groups. APLaserPKoto Father Charles D. Denys. 68, who has celebrated the sacraments at Detroit's Our Lady of Sorrows Church for 15 years, is praying for a way to^save the church from closing under, the archdiocese's proposed reorganization plan. On Friday, Sept. 30, Father Denys celebrated Mass at the church with only one parishioner attending. Diocese announces changes in priestly formation program By Lee Strong The Diocese of Rochester has unveiled plans to revamp its priestly formation program, replacing the deacon-internship year that fol- lowed completion of seminary training with a pastoral-internship year between the third and fourth year of theological studies. In addition, the 10-week summer parish pas- toral experience that normally took place be- tween the.third and fourth years of theology will be moved to the summer after first theol- Calendar Page 10 Columnists Pages 20-21 Editorial & Opinion... Page 22 Entertainment Page 15 Features Pages 7-9 Local News Pages 3-4 Obituaries Page 18 Sports Pages 16-17 World & Nation Pages 5-6\ Youth Page 14 40 mmwm<mnm ogy The clinical pastoral program will con- tinue to take place during the summer between second and third theology. The new plan also calls for each class of pri- ests to be ordained as a group at Sacred Heart Cathedral instead of individually at the par- ishes where the priest candidates served their deacon internship year, as is the current prac- tice. Ordination to the priesthood will now take place within a month of ordination to the di- aconate, rather than a year later ^s under the present format. The changes will go into effect for all semi- narians in 1989, and will not affect the two priest candidates now serving their deacon in- ternship years, Deacons Michael A. McHale and Michael R. Brown. - \The purpose of the pastoral internship year is to provide a realistic pastoral setting for seminarians preparing for the priesthood',' said Bishop Matthew H. Clark. The year will al- low the seminarian to .discern his vocation and, in addition, the bishop said, \will provide the Church of Rochester with another opportuni- ty to observe the seminarian interacting in a pastoral setting beivic the seminarian is called and committed td*Hdly Orders\ The new program is the product of two years of development by Father Thomas J. Valenti, director of seminarians', and Father Michael F. Conboy, director of interns.\\ The program, which is modeled after'similar praams in other dioceses, includes input from priests, seminarians and deacon interns. \The program provides the seminarian with some hands-on experience with pastoral life!' noted Father Conboy. \It will give him a chance to put some flesh on what he's been studying!' \When (seminarians) go to a parish now for one summer, they barely get their feet wet? Fa- ther Valenti said. \I think a full year in con- tact with pastoral ministry will give them a chance to more fully evaluate what pastoral ministry is like!' The internship year will also enable *he future priests to become more fa- miliar with the nature of priestly ministry with- in the diocese, Father Valenti noted. \Because our seminarians study outside our diocese, a full year in a parish rather than just a sum- mer will enable them to become more famil- iar with issues of the local Church — to develop a sense of diocesan identity!' he said. Father Conboy also pointed out that the year will give the diocese an additional opportuni- ty to evaluate the candidate before he is or- dained. \It gives the Church a chance to better as- sess that the candidate is well qualified to be one of:|ts:presbyjeryJ' he said-. The diocese, he addedi'wilLbe^etter able to look at each can- didate anddetermine \is this person going to be well qualified to assume a role of leader- *ip fft \j|§.?|5p>,c>^mjinity?\V. Th&ie^|>f6^raih replaces/one introduced in 19WbyStfen^ishdp'of Wchesfer Joseph •* irf ' L. Hogan. Under that program, a priest can- didate would complete theological studies, be ordained a deacon, then be assigned as a dea- con intern in a parish. After a year, the dea- con would be ordained as priest at the parish in which he served. \It was felt that if the deacon was ordained in the community in which he served, he was being called forth from the community!' Fa- ther Conboy explained, noting that the par- ish ordinations had a more practical goal as well: to help encourage vocations to the priest- hood. This expectation was not realized, he noted. The idea of calling priests forth from the parish community and ordaining them in that community remains valid, Father Conboy said. But the new program emphasizes a different aspect of priestly ministry. \The priest is in service to the Church com- munity as a whole!' he said. \Sacred Heart Ca- thedral is a symbol of the Church community, and so ordaining the candidates at the cathe- dral symbolizes* their service to the com- munity!'. Father Valenti pointed out that under the former system, ordination took place in the parish in which the deacon had just served a year's internship, and where he had established a relationship with the parish community. Un- der the new plan, the priest candidate's will have been away from the parishes in which they Continued on Page 3
