Newspaper Page Text
©
☆
Sou
Diocese of
Savannah
☆
hern
(>oss
Contents
Headline Hopscotch 2
News.- 3
Commentary 4-5
Around the Diocese 6
Graduation 7
Faith Alive! 8-9
Notices 10-11
Last But Not Least 12
Vol. 79, No. 24 $.50 per issue
Thursday, July 1,1999
-
w
w
Priest Shortage
Currently there are only 82 active
priests available to minister to the
74,226 Catholics in the 90 South
Georgia counties that make up
the Diocese of Savannah. The
ratio of priests to people is 1 to
927.
Of the 80 priests, 50 are secu
lar priests, that is priests ordained
to serve the Diocese of Savannah
or extern priests — priests from
other dioceses who help out in the
Savannah diocese. The other 30
priests have been sent by religious
orders to minister in the diocese.
Though the diocese has an
active vocations program, it will
be several years before it bears
fruit. In the meantime, the retire
ment rate for diocesan priests will
be at its peak between the years
2004 and 2015.
As their vocations have
declined, religious orders have
sent fewer and fewer priests to
serve in South Georgia. In 1989
there were 40 active religious
priests in the diocese. The rapid
decrease of religious order priests
has been more than three times
greater than the decrease in
diocesan priests.
The total Catholic population is
expected to grow to 99,500 by
2015 when the ratio of priests to
people is projected to decline to 1
to 2,300 Catholics.
These were among the data
that Savannah Deanery Parish
Feasibility Study steering commit
tee members analyzed in coming
up with their recommendations.
Bishop’s decision will close, merge,
move parishes in Savannah area
The Steering Committee of the Savannah Deanery Feasibility
Study poses at the completion of their work. From left, they are:
(seated) Michael Brown, chair; Sister Mary Frances Sobczak, CDP,
study coordinator; Sister Mary Faith McKean, RSM, and Father
William O. O'Neill; (standing) Jef Boutin; Robert Blakewood;
Anthony Abbott; Father Francis Nelson, V.G.; Gwendolyn
Johnson; Pat Signs; Charles Bell and Allen Lancaster.
By Barbara D. King
Savannah
ishop J. Kevin Boland has
accepted the recommendations
of a Savannah Deanery steering com
mittee that will close Nativity of Our
Lord Parish, merge Saint Anthony of
Padua and Most Pure Heart of Mary
Parishes, and eventually lead to a
new facility for Our Lady of Lourdes
Parish.
The recommendations are the result
of two years’ worth of study of priest
personnel, parish boundaries and
strengths and challenges of the 13
parishes and two missions in the
deanery, which encompasses
Chatham, Effingham and Bryan coun
ties. The study will result in at least
minor changes to all the parishes.
Before turning them over to the
bishop, the steering committee
altered some of their earlier recom
mendations. While endorsing the
steering committee’s recommenda
tions, the bishop made some changes
in the way they will be implemented.
The bishop’s final decisions on the
parishes most affected are:
• Nativity of Our Lord parish will be
merged into Blessed Sacrament
Parish on September 1, 1999. The
building will retain the name “Na
tivity of Our Lord Church” but the
parish will become Saints Peter and
Paul Mission and will serve the
Vietnamese community in the
Savannah area.
• As a pastoral consideration, for a
period of a year one Mass will be
celebrated in English each Sunday at
Nativity Church. Aside from the
Mass, all sacraments will be provid
ed by Blessed Sacrament.
• One pastor will serve both Saint
Anthony of Padua and Most Pure
Heart of Mary parishes effective June
1, 1999. A committee composed of
representatives of both parishes, with
the help of a facilitator, will be estab
lished by September 1, 1999, to
develop a plan to merge the two
parishes into one parish with one
pastor within a year’s time.
• Our Lady of Lourdes Parish on
Highway 17 in Port Wentworth will
be relocated to the western part of
Chatham County within the next
three to five years. A parish planning
committee will be set up by
September 1, 1999 to plan for the
future relocation of the parish to
accommodate population growth in
the area. The present church sits on
(Continued on page 2)
Closed for repairs
The upper church of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist closed for restoration on
Sunday, June 27. The work could take up to 18 months. Shown at left are Frank
Finocchiaro and Joe Conner preparing to enter the Cathedral for the 11:30 a.m.
Mass. Both sing in the Cathedral Men's Choir. During the restoration, Sunday
Masses will be celebrated in the lower church, "Our Lady's Chapel." Weekday
Masses will be offered in the rectory meeting room.
Photo: Bob Morris/Savannah Morning News