toledoblade.com --

Two dozen of the Toledo Catholic Diocese's 157 parishes are recommended for closure as part of a realignment study designed to consolidate parishes with too few members and assign a dwindling number of priests to no more than two parishes at a time (See Diocesan statistics below).

Bishop Leonard P. Blair will announce the names of parishes involved in the recommended changes in September after a series of meetings with clergy and members of the diocese, church leaders announced yesterday. The bishop will then meet with each affected parish to explain the situation, hear feedback, and announce his final decision on the changes in March, 2005.

The Rev. Michael R. Billian, episcopal vicar for administration, emphasized that although a diocese list of recommended closures names 24 parishes now, that number is not set. The diocese will factor parish size, the number of baptisms, and proximity to other churches into its decisions, he said.

"I can't tell you right now that it's going to be 10, it's going to be 20, or that it's going to be 30," Father Billian said. "There are some that will need to close."

DIOCESE AT A GLANCE

• Founded 1910, though some of its churches date back to the late 1820s and 1830s.
• 157 parishes in 19 northwest Ohio counties
• 8,222 square miles
• 114 priests
• 305,754 members
• 104,278 average number of members attending mass in October, 2003

In fact, the list for recommended closings totaled 26, but two parishes already have been closed: St. John's in Stryker, Ohio, and Our Lady of Fatima in Lyons, Ohio. With the closing of St. John's, two nearby parishes - St. Peter in Archbold, Ohio, and Our Lady of Mercy in Fayette, Ohio - were joined together with one pastor to serve the parishioners from St. John's. The operations of Our Lady of Fatima were merged with Holy Trinity in Assumption, Ohio, to serve eastern Fulton County and western Lucas County.

Four other parishes in the Norwalk area were reconfigured effective July 1 into two "twinned" parishes with one pastor. They are St. Mary, Mother of the Redeemer in Norwalk and St. Anthony in Milan, Ohio, and St. Joseph in Monroeville and St. Alphonsus in Peru, Ohio.

In addition, four parishes in Williams and Defiance counties were coupled. St. Patrick in Bryan, Ohio, and Immaculate Conception in Marysdale, Ohio, now operate as twinned parishes with one pastor, as do St. Stephen and St. Michael Ridge. All four parishes operated as single parishes prior to the realignment.

The realignment is part of a larger study that began 10 years ago to pre-empt the need for last-minute closings or other drastic moves. Church leaders did not initially consider closing parishes, said Michael Wasserman, secretary for pastoral leadership.

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Established in 1910, the Diocese of Toledo includes a mixture of urban and rural areas, with 314,000 members in 19 northwest Ohio counties.

Although local church officials say the nationwide Catholic priest shortage has not hit northwest Ohio as hard as other parts of the country, the Toledo Diocese - with 114 active priests currently spread over 157 parishes - projects the number of priests will decline to 84 by 2012.

"It's a sad situation," said Mary Fox, a parishioner and administrative assistant at Blessed Sacrament parish, 4227 Bellevue Rd., West Toledo. "But what are you going to do? I'm concerned, but I know things have to change somehow."

The diocese typically ordains between one and three priests per year, nowhere near enough to handle the number who are aging and preparing to retire, said the Rev. Michael Brown, pastor at Christ the King Church, 4100 Harvest Lane, West Toledo. The recommended changes, he said, are "going to be a very important grieving experience" for parishioners affected.

Some churches already have grouped together to sustain themselves, and inevitably, those parishioners will notice small changes, said the Rev. Joseph Steinbauer, the pastor at Little Flower Catholic Church, 5522 Dorr St., southwest Toledo.

Father Steinbauer, who oversaw two parishes in Rossford that are now coupled, said the transition can be very trying for more dedicated parishioners.

"At the beginning, there were some really disappointed feelings," Father Steinbauer said. "People felt like they were losing something. People have a lot of heritages in their churches - they married there, they had their children baptized there. But later, once people started to come together, I think most looked at it hopefully."

Contact Grant Schulte at:
gschulte@theblade.com
or 419-724-6050.

2003 Diocesan statistics

Key - Community: Church (Parishioners)

Alvada: St. Peter (365)
Antwerp: St. Mary (447)
Archbold: St. Peter (705)
Assumption: Holy Trinity (2,853)
Attica: SS. Peter & Paul (609)

Bascom: St. Patrick (951)
Bellevue: Immaculate Conception (3,365)
Bethlehem: Sacred Heart (440)
Bismark: St. Sebastian (441)
Blakeslee: St. Joseph (513)
Bluffton: St. Mary (940)
Bono: Our Lady of Mount Carmel (472)

Bowling Green
St. Aloysius (3,304)
St. Thomas More (2,153)
Bryan: St. Patrick (1,964)
Bucyrus: Holy Trinity (1,608)

Carey: Our Lady of Consolation (2,266)
Cecil: Immaculate Conception (133)
Cloverdale: St. Barbara (343)
Clyde: St. Mary (1,250)
Columbus Grove: St. Anthony of Padua (1,913)
Continental: St. John the Baptist (400)
Crestline: St. Joseph (1,259)
Cuba: St. Isidore (201)
Custar: St. Louis (553)

Defiance
St. John (2,475)
St. Mary (3,501)

Delphos: St. John the Evangelist (6,300)
Deshler: Immaculate Conception (437)

Edgerton: St. Mary (1,119)

Fayette: Our Lady of Mercy (600)
Findlay: St. Michael the Archangel (9,006)
Fort Jennings: St. Joseph (1,589)
Fostoria: St. Wendelin (4,560)

Fremont
Sacred Heart (3,179)
St. Ann (1,500)
St. Casimir (708)
St. Joseph (4,059)

Frenchtown: St. Nicholas (615)

Galion: St. Joseph (1,589)
Genoa: Our Lady of Lourdes (1,575)
Gibsonburg: St. Michael (1,409)
Glandorf: St. John (3,150)

Hamler: St. Paul (347)
Hicksville: St. Michael (768)
Holgate: St. Mary (3,522)
Huron: St. Peter (3,528)

Junction: St. Mary (211)

Kalida: St. Michael (2,615)
Kansas: St. James (222)
Kelleys Island: St. Michael (95)
Kirby: St. Mary (579)

Landeck: St. John the Baptist (789)
Leipsic: St. Mary (1,859)
Lexington: Resurrection (1,936)
Liberty: St. Andrew (291)

Lima
St. Charles Borromeo (6,031)
St. Gerard (3,219)
St. John the Evangelist (792)
St. Rose of Lima (1,720)

Lyons: Our Lady of Fatima (695)

Mansfield
St. Mary of the Snow (1,402)
St. Peter (5,687)

Marblehead: St. Joseph (1,419)
Marysdale: Immaculate Conception (325)
Marywood: St. Michael (338)

Maumee: St. Joseph (7,103)
Milan: St. Anthony (1,140)
Miller City: St. Nicholas (886)
Millersville: St. Mary (703)
Monroeville: St. Joseph (1,557)
Montpelier: Sacred Heart (652)

Napoleon: St. Augustine (1,998)
New Bavaria: Sacred Heart (618)
New Cleveland: Holy Family (699)
New London: Our Lady of Lourdes (686)
New Riegel: St. Boniface (1,015)
New Washington: St. Bernard (786)
North Auburn: Mother of Sorrows (305)
North Baltimore: Holy Family (781)
North Creek: St. Joseph (55)

Norwalk
St. Mary (1,010)
St. Paul the Apostle 4,251

Oak Harbor: St. Boniface (1,003)

Oregon: St. Ignatius (2,900)
Ottawa: SS. Peter & Paul (2,584)
Ottoville: Immaculate Conception (2,300)

Paulding: St. Joseph (1,215)
Payne: St. John the Baptist (694)
Perrysburg: St. Rose (8,076)
Peru: St. Alphonsus Liguori (743)
Plymouth: St. Joseph (300)
Port Clinton: Immaculate Conception (3,759)
Providence: St. Patrick (1,353)
Put-In-Bay: Mother of Sorrows (165)

Reed: Assumption (250)
Republic: St. Aloysius (513)

Rossford
All Saints (6,727)
St. Michael Ridge St. Michael (929)
St. Stephen St. Stephen (131)

Salem: St. Joseph (180)

Sandusky
Holy Angels (1,761)
St. Mary (6,097)
SS. Peter & Paul (4,480)

Shelby: Most Pure Heart of Mary (2,324)
Spencerville: St. Patrick (509)
Stryker: St. John (180)
Swanton: St. Richard (2,575)
Sycamore: St. Pius X (345)

Sylvania: St. Joseph (10,133)

The Bend: St. Stephen (329)

Tiffin
St. Joseph (5,525)
St. Mary (4,840)

Toledo
Rosary Cathedral (1,351)
Blessed Sacrament (3,254)
Christ the King (7,693)
Corpus Christi (704)
Gesu (3,662)
Good Shepherd (909)
Holy Rosary (1,020)
Immaculate Conception (605)
Toledo Little Flower of Jesus (4,039)
Our Lady of Lourdes (2,965)
Our Lady of Perpetual Help (3,208)
Regina Coeli (3,246)
Sacred Heart of Jesus (1,186)
St. Adalbert (1,270)
St. Agnes (1,989)
St. Anthony (84)
St. Catherine of Siena (3,237)
St. Charles Borromeo (2,042)
St. Clement (5,940)
St. Francis de Sales (953)
St. Hedwig (916)
St. Hyacinth (600)
St. James (475)
St. Joan of Arc (5,463)
St. John the Baptist (4,255)
St. Joseph (564)
St. Jude (499)
St. Louis (357)
St. Martin de Porres (442)
St. Mary of the Assumption (342)
St. Michael the Archangel (460)
St. Patrick (Heatherdowns) (6,581)
St. Patrick (Historic) (1,265)
SS. Peter & Paul (2,153)
St. Pius X (1,850)
St. Stanislaus (44)
St. Stephen (940)
St. Thomas Aquinas (2,376)
St. Vincent de Paul (375)

Upper Sandusky: St. Peter (1,478)

Van Wert: St. Mary (2,419)
Vermilion: St. Mary (4,290)

Wakeman: St. Mary (575)
Walbridge: St. Jerome (2,099)
Wauseon: St. Casper (1,690)
Willard: St. Francis Xavier (1,525)

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