Pittsburgh bishop announces decisions that affect Greene and Washington churches
All 188 parishes in the six-county Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh will begin a process in October to merge into 57 new parishes with multiple worship sites, according to a recent announcement by Bishop David Zubik.
That includes local churches in the Herald-Standard readership area of Greene and Washington counties, which are expected to finish transitions into three new parishes by 2020.
All groupings in the diocese, which also includes Allegheny, Beaver, Butler and Lawrence counties, will include new clergy assignments and new Mass schedules. They become effective Oct. 15.
This is part of a strategic planning initiative, called “On Mission For the Church Alive,” launched by the Pittsburgh diocese in 2015 in the face of declining numbers for priests and Catholics.
Here are the local groupings:
Greene County: St. Ann in Waynesburg, St. Hugh in Carmichaels, St. Ignatius of Antioch in Bobtown, Our Lady of Consolation in Nemacolin and St. Thomas in Clarksville. The grouping includes St. Ann Preschool. Mass Attendance is 950. Maximum number of weekend Masses will be six.
The clergy team will include the Rev. Albin McGinnis, administrator; the Rev. John Bauer, senior parochial vicar; Deacon Elbert Kuhns and Deacon James Sheil. McGinnis is currently pastor of St. John Neumann Parish in Franklin Park. Bauer, Kuhn and Sheil are currently part of the Greene County parishes while Sheil is also assigned to ministry at State Correctional Institute Greene County.
Charleroi/Donora/Monongahela: St. Damien of Molokai in Monongahela, Mary, Mother of the Church in Charleroi and Our Lady of the Valley in Donora. The grouping includes Madonna Catholic Regional School. Mass attendance is 1,400. Maximum number of weekend Masses will be six.
The clergy team will include the Rev. Kevin Dominik, administrator; the Rev. Patrick Barkey, senior parochial vicar; the Rev. Gerald Mikonis, in residence; and Deacon Alexander Poroda II. Dominick is currently pastor of St. Angela Merici Parish in White Oak and part-time chaplain to Serra Catholic High School. Barkey is currently administrator of Holy Spirit Parish in West Mifflin. Mikonis, currently pastor of Mary, Mother of the Church Parish, will retire but remain in residence there and has offered to assist as chaplain of Monongahela Valley Hospital. Poroda is currently assigned to St. Damien of Molokai.
Southeast Washington County, meanwhile, is ahead of other parishes as it currently undergoes the transition process. St. Katharine of Drexel has been formed by a merger of Ave Maria, Bentleyville; St. Agnes, Richeyville; St. Thomas Aquinas, California; St. Joseph, Roscoe; and St. Oliver Plunkett, which had two churches: Ss. Mary and Ann, Marianna and St. Michael the Archangel in Fredericktown. Mass attendance is 600. Maximum number of weekend Masses will be six.
The clergy team will include the Rev. Edward Yuhas, administrator; the Rev. J. Francis Frazer, senior parochial vicar; and Deacon Thomas Raymond. Yuhas is maintaining his role as administrator of St. Katharine. Frazer is currently team ministry moderator of the Greene County parishes while Raymond is deacon administrator and serves in ministry at the Greene County parishes.
In a telephone interview, Zubik explained Southeast Washington County “couldn’t wait for this due to pastoral and financial needs.”
Meanwhile, Greene County’s parishes have been working together in a team ministry but will go back to the more traditional pastor/parochial vicar model in the new grouping, Zubik said.
The diocese explained that over the coming months, incoming administrators will collaborate with current pastors and administrators to create interim Mass schedules, which will be announced in August. New schedules for confession and religious education will be developed in many groupings.
Under this phase of the initiative, Zubik said, “No parishes are going out of existence and buildings will continue to operate.”
Through the groupings, the parishes and the clergy will come together to plan for their futures. All 57 groupings are being given a timeline category to make the transition. Local churches are assigned to Category A, which must make the transition by the end of 2020, while Category B groupings have until the end of 2021 and Category C groupings have until the end of 2023.
Zubik said that at that time, groupings will make a request to come together as a new parish, recommend the buildings they will need to serve the parish and submit three names for the new parish. The diocese explained the bishop will make the final decision.
Zubik said that the people have been very respectful and that the parish groupings should not come as a surprise. The initiative has involved three years of prayer, study and consultation.
What may surprise them is the change of clergy. Of the 200 priests in active ministry, Zubik said 130 are receiving new assignments while 70 are remaining in their positions but not in the same assignments.
Zubik also said that 17 priests are expected to retire in October and two priests are going on medical leave. It’s projected the number of priests in the diocese will fall to 112 by 2025.
In addition, Zubik noted, “We have 632,000 Catholics in the diocese, but only 149,000 are coming to Mass on the weekends. That’s a significant number to be concerned about. What do we need to do to bring people back to church?”
This initiative also seeks to revitalize parishes and promote vibrant faith in the diocese.
In a prepared statement released by the diocese, Zubik said this initiative “seeks to offer a deeper relationship with Jesus and his Church to everyone, including those actively engaged in the Church, those who have lost touch with Jesus or who have left the Church, and those who have never belonged to the Church, but are seeking deeper meaning in their lives.”