Bulletin Articles on 20/20 Plan By Fr. Peter Berger Article I I wanted to take some time over the next few bulletins to bring you up to speed on the Archdiocesan Planning Process which has been underway for the past few years and which will continue, even more intensely, over the next few years. A number of years ago the Archdiocese began to look at the state of the Archdiocese and what it would need looking forward to the year 2020. This look included an examination of the current make-up of the Archdiocese, as well as looking at the number of priests who would be available to minister in the Archdiocese. This examination brought about what is known as the 2020 Plan. The 2020 Plan lays out a vision of how the parishes of the Archdiocese will be structured around the year 2020 and how priest personnel would be assigned based on the configurations and needs of those parishes. In the next article I will explain more about what this plan looks like and what it means for the parishes in the Archdiocese, but I wanted to begin by speaking of the two most significant factors that have gone into this plan. The first significant factor that is being taken into account is the number of priests that we will have actively ministering in the Archdiocese by the year 2020. Fr. Steve Avella, a priest of the Archdiocese, recently published the second volume in his history of the diocese. This second volume covered the span of the years 1959 1977, the days that Archbishop Cousins served as our Archbishop. In the book he points out that the peak numbers of priests in the Archdiocese happened during this era, specifically in 1966. In 1966 the Archdiocese of Milwaukee had 698 priests. Now, almost fifty years later, the number of diocesan priests in active ministry in the Archdiocese is down to. As you can see, this has been a significant change. To put the change in even further perspective, when I was ordained ten years ago in 2005, we had three members of our ordination class. Fifty years prior to that, in 1955, the Archdiocese ordained thirty new priests (in one year!). In the decade from 1950 1959, the Archdiocese ordained 196 new priests. In the decade of 2000 2009, the Archdiocese ordained a total of 30 men, only 6.5% of the total it had ordained fifty years earlier. This decrease in the number of priests and its impact on the Archdiocese and on parishes cannot be underestimated. For the near future, this trend will continue with an estimated 134 priests in active ministry by the year 2020, with nearly 200 parishes to serve and not including the countless other ministries which priests have been involved with in the past. The second significant factor that is driving the planning process is based on the shifting demographics of the Archdiocese. Over the course of the next few decades the Catholic population in Southeastern Wisconsin will continue to grow, however, it is estimated that there will be a sharp decrease in the numbers of those Catholics who are registered and active members of their parishes. Right now, on parish registration lists there are about 450,000 Catholics, it is projected by the year 2040 that there will be only 200,000 on our parish registration lists while the numbers of Catholics whose tie to the Church is tenuous will grow to 700,000. This, along with some shifting in the geographical locations of Catholics, means that we have to be pro-active in in discerning where our resources need to be placed. As you can tell, these numbers show the prudence of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in embarking on a planning process for the near future. They are numbers that cannot be ignored and must be taken
into account. At the same time, we have to avoid the temptation to become discouraged or fatalistic, we have a role to play in helping to reverse the trend that we see unfolding. We too are called to invite and pray for those (particularly of our own families and friends) who have ceased practicing their faith and, secondly, we are called to pray for and promote vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. Finally, we are called to seek to draw closer to Christ through the sacraments and prayer so that our hearts may be continually converted if we are close to Christ, other people will see that and want it and will be drawn to joining us and our prayers for the Church and for the Archdiocese will be more effective the holier our lives our and the closer we are to the Lord Himself. In the next article, I am going to examine more closely the Archdiocesan 2020 Plan and what it will entail.
Article II In my last article, I took some time to discuss the Archdiocesan Planning Process and the demographic changes which are underlying this process. This weekend I want to discuss the first fruits of that planning process, the Archdiocesan 2020 Plan. As I mentioned in the last article, it is projected that by the year 2020 the Archdiocese will have 134 diocesan priests in active ministry and will have nearly 200 parishes, as well as other ministries that are staffed by priests (most especially St. Francis de Sales Seminary). As you can see from the numbers it will be, literally, impossible for that number of priests to minister to that number of parishes on a 1-1 ratio. Because of this, the Archdiocese has assessed the locations and sizes and needs of the parishes and developed a model of parish ministry and priest assignment that will help ensure that priestly ministry is present and active at each of our parishes. The way to do this is with a plan that clusters the parishes of the Archdiocese into clusters of from two to six parishes. There are some parishes which, due to their size, geographical location, specific population or because they are served by religious order priests that will remain as stand alone parishes. These stand alone parishes will not be actively clustered with other parishes and will continue to be served on the model which we have known over these past years of one or two priests being assigned to that parish and that parish alone. There will be approximately 30 of the parishes which will be considered stand alone. Of the 170 parishes that remain, they will be clustered together with nearby parish(es) and have one pastor assigned to both of them. It is important to realize that this does not mean that parishes are being merged each parish will maintain its individual identity, while working together and having the same priest assigned to them. This will be a significant change for most of the parishes in the Archdiocese, they will still have their own priest, but he will be shared with another local parish. Depending on the sizes of the clusters and the availability of priests it may be possible for those clusters to also have an Associate Pastor assigned, so while two clustered parishes may have two priests ministering in them, they will share the same pastor and associate pastor. Furthermore, there will be a reliance on the continued ministry of our senior priests, those who have retired from fulltime ministry, but continue to assist with the sacraments. It is there generosity of continuing to serve forty, fifty, even sixty years after their ordination that will help to mitigate some of the challenges and changes which will flow from this plan. Along with the 2020 Plan, the Archdiocese is beginning to work on the unfolding of the plans which resulted from the Archdiocesan Synod which was held over Pentecost in 2014. These various areas of focus will result in the Archdiocese and parishes working to take the goals and vision laid out at the Synod and put those goals into action. In next week s article, I will take a look at what this 2020 Plan means for our parish looking forward.
Article III Last week, we took a look at the Archdiocesan Planning Process and its resulting 2020 Plan which lays out a new structure of parishes working together as clusters of parishes under the guidance of a single pastor. As I pointed out, the vast majority of the parishes in the Archdiocese will be working under this new arrangement. Parishes which are clustered together will not be merged into a single parish, but will instead maintain their separate parish identity while being served by the same priest and, ideally, working together in their communities for the advancement of the Gospel. This week I d like to take a look at what the 2020 Plan means for St. Mary s Visitation Parish. In the 2020 Plan, St. Mary s will be clustered with St. Joseph s Parish in Wauwatosa. The plan, furthermore, calls for one priest to be shared between the two parishes. This will be a significant change for St. Mary s, as up until 2009, St. Mary s was ministered to by two full-time priests. Within the next two five years, in all likelihood, St. Mary s will be ministered to by one half-time priest, the other part of his ministry being shared with St. Joseph s. This will obviously result in some changes and shifting of priestly ministry here at St. Mary s which I will explore briefly in next weekend s article, but suffice it to say this is a change that will happen and needs to be prepared for and, hopefully, accepted with grace, openness, courage and trust. I want to reiterate again, that this sharing of one priest between St. Mary s Visitation and St. Joseph s does NOT mean that the parishes will merge to become one parish they will continue to be two parishes. However, it does mean that the doors will be opened for a mutual sharing in the mission of the Church, working together for a shared goal. The main change that will face us initially is simply the shared nature of having one priest ministering at both parishes, what else may unfold after that will be guided by the Holy Spirit, the Archdiocese and our respective parish staffs, trustees and Pastoral Councils. This may be a good time to speak about the Pastoral Council since their role in the unfolding of the 2020 Plan and the Archdiocesan Synod implementation will be key. You may recall that for a number of years each parish had what was known as a Parish Council. A couple of years ago, the Archbishop asked that parishes transition Parish Councils into Pastoral Councils. The resulting change means that a Pastoral Council is charged with helping the pastor / administrator of the parish to identify goals and to vision for the future of the parish. The Pastoral Council serves as an advisory group to the pastor / administrator and, obviously, the 2020 Plan will call for the advice and wisdom of the Pastoral Council as we move through this time of transition. The current Pastoral Council is headed by Mr. Howard Pryor, Chair, and also includes Mr. Jim Carrig, Mr. Jim Olson, Mrs. Ann Rauh, Mrs. Jean Kelly, Mr. David Urbanski, Mr. Joe Puchner, and Mrs. Liz Pesci. The ex officio members are myself and our two parish trustees, Mr. Ignatius Smetek and Mr. Gordon Giampietro. Minutes from the Pastoral Council are available at the Rectory for anyone who would be interested. This is also a good time to thank them for their continued service, wisdom and dedication. They will be a key component of the unfolding of the 2020 Plan for St. Mary s. While moving into a new model of parish collaboration, it is good to keep in mind that while, up to this point, St. Mary s Visitation and St. Joseph s have been neighbors, the new 2020 Plan calls for us to be even more than neighbors or even friends, but to truly be siblings, sharing a common bond which is not based on blood, but on something far more important and enduring, the bond of our mutual Catholic Faith.
Article IV Over the past few weeks we have been examining the Archdiocesan Planning Process, the resulting 2020 Plan and how that will affect St. Mary s Visitation Parish. As I mentioned last weekend, the 2020 Plan calls for St. Mary s and St. Joseph Parish in Wauwatosa to be clustered together and served by one priest. We do not know the exact timing of this, but most likely it will unfold over the next two to five years. This reduction in priestly presence from one full-time priest to one half-time priest at St. Mary s will, obviously, mean some initial changes in what priests can do. This is not something that only I will face, nor that only St. Mary s or St. Joe s will face, it is something that will be unfolding throughout the Archdiocese at around the same time. Looking ahead then, it means that there will be some changes that Catholics will have to start to get used to as they interact with their priests and I wanted to take a few moments to lay out some of what those changes may look like while we are embarking on a new model of parish relationships as well as the way priests minister in those parishes. While we cannot fully know what that will look like there are some things we can anticipate as we move forward. The most important change that we will need to face is simply a result of one priest being shared by two parishes. This means that the priest will have to be selective as to where he spends his time and energy and what he is involved with and what he cannot be involved with. While we like the priest to be present for as much as possible, it will have to be kept in mind that he is also being shared with another parish which also has its specific needs and requirements. It is hard to anticipate what this will look like fully, but it means, most likely, that the priest will have to say no to things that in the past he was able to say yes to. It will be imperative for the priest to view all that needs to be done and to choose to invest in what is clearly the role of the priest, what is most likely to produce the most fruit and what is the most important demand in that moment. Due to the fact that the priest will have to be discerning and selective of what he is able to commit to, it also means a corresponding understanding on the part of parishioners. Just because a priest has to decline an invitation or cannot be present for something does not mean that he is uninterested, or finds it unimportant it does mean, however, that he is trying to give what he can to things that he must do, either because of the nature of what must be done (i.e., things only a priest can do) or the pressing nature of something else (such as a funeral or attending a person who is dying). This will require both parishioners, as well as the priest, to rely on the work of the Parish Staff to handle things which, perhaps in the past, were handled by the priest. As the transition unfolds for one priest to serve both St. Mary s and St. Joseph s what things will look like will become more clear and more concrete, however, it s good to think, even now, of the nature of the priesthood and what a priest is called to do and to understand when he has to choose between needs and wants. There is always trepidation and nervousness in going into change and, thankfully, we ll be given notice of when this change will take place and continue to talk about it as it gets closer and, hopefully, while the changes will be real and some may require a period of adjustment, we can approach these plans and changes with a spirit of hope and in looking forward to the new things that the Holy Spirit will bring about in and through the Archdiocesan Planning Process