Bishop Sees Catholic Parishes Forced to Merge
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MINNEAPOLIS — The growing shortage of priests in the United States will force Roman Catholic parishes to merge or use more lay people, the president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops said Tuesday.
Bishop James Malone of Youngstown, Ohio, made his statements at the conclusion of a weeklong meeting of 259 bishops at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minn. The meeting focused on problems related to the shortage of priests and nuns.
Malone said the bishops formulated no specific plan of action, but there were discussions on merging parishes and using more lay people for some functions now reserved for priests.
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