It's now all over the internet that the Archdiocese of Hartford is preparing its reorganization plan to reconstruct and consolidate the parishes throughout Connecticut. The new plan will include 144 parishes in the archdiocese that will be merged into 59 new parishes.
The reorganization plan will officially start on June 29, which will cut the number of parishes nearly half from 212 to 127. Only 68 parishes will remain untouched in the said reorganization.
The only church that is scheduled to be deconstructed is Saint Margaret of Scotland in Waterbury; but, there is no announcement from the archdiocese as to what will happen with the building. In addition, 26 churches will be closed and will not hold regular scheduled Mass anymore.
The archdiocese also created a 200-page manual to help ease the process of reorganizing and also includes 26 sections that contain suggestions regarding the transition of employment, a checklist for merging parishes, and parish records. There are also some questions being raised as to what should be done with some of the items that are donated to specific churches which the archdiocese is currently analyzing for a possible solution.
Father James Manship said, "The parish has been such a foundational part of their life and for that to have to be morphed and changed from the outside, by the restructuring, is tough."
When asked about the reorganization, the parishioners said that they are excited about the transition. Some members of St. Bartholomew's and St. Bridget's will also be joining in the new St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish.
Father Manship has served Saint Rosa of Lima's pastor for 12 years now, and visions for his parish to become strong and understands that the upheaval is uneasy and upsetting. Like the new members of the new St. Teresa of Calcutta parish, Saint Rosa of Lima will also be joined by Saint Francis Parish in New Haven to form a larger church, which will add more people to the nearly 1,300 families that are already attending the church.
"We agree that now we are moving forward as a stronger community, with Mother Teresa as a patron, is so beautiful, that we can go forward and proclaim the gospel of the Lord. This is what our point here," Father Marcin Pluciennik said.
Archbishop Leonard Blair of Hartford said that the transition is not just pertaining to financial reasons or due to the declining membership, but it's also a restoration of the community's spiritual life.
