May 4, 2013 4 min read

GREENSBURG —  Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt on Friday announced a series of closings, a merger and three partnerings that affect 14 parishes in the Diocese of Greensburg, seven of which are in Fayette County.

Most notably under the plan, St. Hedwig in Smock will close.

The following parishes will be merged and together will form one new parish: Madonna of Czestochowa, Cardale; St. Thomas, Footedale; Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Leckrone; All Saints, Masontown; St. Procopius, New Salem; and Holy Rosary, Republic. The new parish will be named St. Francis of Assisi Parish with worship sites in Footedale and Masontown. The name was chosen to honor Pope Francis, Brandt said.

The bishop announced his decisions at a press conference at the Bishop William G. Connare Center after meeting with priests of the diocese and informing them of the decisions. Announcements of the changes, which are effective June 25, will be made in diocesan parishes at Masses today.

At the press conference, Brandt outlined the diocese’s strategic planning process that began in 2006 and resulted in a series of restructurings in 2008.

Brandt said he commissioned a committee in 2012 that was composed of diocesan managing directors, deans and others to identify, study, analyze and review developing challenges in parishes and schools in various areas in the diocese, which have occurred since 2008.

The committee found that the diocesan strategic plan and its 2008 recommendations “still are valid as our foundational planning document for addressing the challenges we face now in some of our parishes and schools in 2013,” he said.

During the past year’s planning efforts, “we continued to remember our shift from an ‘historical model’ to a ‘pastoral needs model'” and remained committed to “recognize the need to objectively distinguish the ‘nice’ from the ‘necessary,’ and remember “that ‘small and scattered’ is not a formula for long-term survival,” Brandt said.

He noted that the Diocese of Greensburg currently has 67 active priests, down from 101 in 2000, and that projections, which account for deaths, sickness, ordinations and departures, indicate that in five years that number will be reduced to 48 and will plummet to 27 priests by 2025.

Prior to finalizing his decisions, Brandt said he consulted with two clergy advisory bodies, the Presbyteral Council and the College of Consultors, which discussed and unanimously supported his actions.

In addition to St. Hedwig, Smock, St. Boniface, Latrobe (Chestnut Ridge) will be closed.

Six parishes will enter new partner configurations. St. John the Baptist, Scottdale, will be partnered with St. Joseph, Everson. Our Lady of Grace, Greensburg, will be partnered with St. Benedict, Marguerite. St. Paul, Greensburg, and St. Bruno, Greensburg, will be partnered.

Even though the number of parishioners impacted by the closures represents only 2.5 percent of the Catholic population in the diocese, nonetheless those parishioners are now being served by about 10 percent of assigned priests in the diocese, Brandt said.

In addition, the number of Catholics in the six parishes in Western Fayette County that will form St. Francis of Assisi Parish has decreased by 70 percent in the past 50 years and by 25 percent in the past 10 years.

“In that same area, we are burying four people for every infant that we are baptizing,” he said.

Brandt will announce clergy appointments in early June. At the request of the Presbyteral Council, he will promulgate interim weekend Mass schedules for the newly established parish and the new partner parish communities. The Mass schedules will be subject to review and possible modification after a six-month trial period, he said.

Brandt also announced preparations for school information sessions for the stakeholders in three diocesan elementary schools: All Saints Regional School, Masontown, St. John the Baptist Regional Catholic School, Scottdale, and The Cardinal Maida Academy, Vandergrift.

All three schools are facing difficulties, he said, and will engage in a review process in May to determine future, appropriate actions.

“School principals and boards of trust administrators (the priests responsible for governing a Catholic school in the Diocese of Greensburg) will present viable solutions to me for my consideration,” he said, noting that this process is “rooted in our comprehensive strategic planning process and, like our parish restructuring process, is not simply a knee-jerk reaction to crisis.”

In addition, he will celebrate Masses of Welcome and Remembrance in successor parishes, just as he did in 2008, to “try to help those who mourn their loss, celebrate their past and find in their new parish a home where they can be comforted and find hope for the future.”

The Masses of Welcome and Remembrance will be celebrated this summer on dates to be announced later.