This week is the final buildup to the 250th anniversary of the United States. People will be coming from far and wide to enjoy time in the great outdoors and in the abundant waters of the Great Lake State.
This week also represents the withering of the Diocese of Gaylord, as 28% of the churches will close their doors as part of a so-called restructuring plan announced by the Bishop Walsh. It is the culmination of years of poor catechesis, bad leadership, and cultural rot, among others. Integral in this decline, in addition to moral corruption of the worst degree (sexual abuse of minors), is the apparent lack of awareness among Church leadership as to reasons for the slow disintegration of the Catholic Church’s presence in northern lower Michigan. Almost nothing coming from the Diocese confronts the major issues plaguing the Church faithful (leading to an unfaithful Catholic which rapidly leads to a former practicing Catholic). Therefore, efforts to reverse the problems never develop. Instead, the bureaucracy turns to managed decline and a variety of cliches to hide the elephant in the living room: something is terribly wrong in the Church.
As an example, in one bulletin, the pastor stated the following regarding this “transition” of the Diocese: “As we enter into this transition, we need to be people who warmly welcome everyone who is being affected by this transition into our own faith communities and make them feel a vital part of whichever parish they happen to settle in. it is difficult anytime there is change of any sort, and we as priests experience this anytime there is a change of assignment for us. This is an opportunity for us, however, to build up the entire church of the Diocese of Gaylord and to recognize that how we define church is larger than any one parish of any one faith community.”
None of this drivel gets to the heart of the matter. So a lack of awareness leads to a lack of problem solving which leads to an atmosphere of hopelessness. How about a major Diocesan drive to define what happened to these parishes and the vocations drought we have? Then, how about a prayer crusade and brainstorming to renew the Church in our Diocese, based on core Catholic teaching and a spirit of supernatural hope to set out on a major renewal of the Diocese? Finally, why not set goals to GROW the Diocese, not shrink it? How about a push to bring back fallen Catholics and convert non-Catholic Christians?
All of this comes down to prayer, sacrifice, and leadership. The path is simple to map out; the road is hard. May we all work harder to pray for this Diocese and do what we can to raise up and grow this Diocese.