Changes in the Church

News spread quickly early last week about restructuring Catholic parishes across southern Minnesota in the Diocese of Winona.
Reaction varied from shock to an understanding that a plan was necessary to address changing demographics and the issue of a smaller number of priests available to serve parishes in the diocese.
A draft plan of Vision 2016 was released and explained by the diocese in a series of announcements via a press release and through a recorded message by Bishop John M. Quinn on the diocese website.
Joel Hennessy, director of Mission Advancement and Communications for the diocese, said the process has been prayerfully developed. For some, the news has been received like “a death in the family.” For others, it was expected, Hennessy said.
Nearly half of the Winona Diocese parishes have received recommended organizational change as a result of the draft plan. This results in variations of how parishes are clustered, assignment of residence of a pastor and the merging of parishes, said Msgr. Richard Colletti, vicar general and director of planning for the diocese. 
The Vision 2016 draft plan will see major changes in how local churches are structured. Vision 2016 recommends discontinuing mass at St. Aiden in Ellendale, Corpus Christi in Steele County’s Deerfield Township, St. Mary in Geneva, St. Francis de Sales in Claremont and St. Vincent de Paul in West Concord.
Both St. Francis de Sales and St. Vincent de Paul will merge with St. John Baptist de la Salle in Dodge Center. St. Mary will merge with St. Columbanus in Blooming Prairie. Corpus Christi will merge with Christ the King in Medford and St. Aiden will merge with All Saints in New Richland. 
The Vision 2016 document is a pastoral plan that has been in the development stages since 2011. Clergy and lay leaders of the Diocese of Winona worked collaboratively to create the strategic plan. It is hoped to finalize the plan by spring 2016.
Quinn said pastoral planning “is an ongoing effort in every Catholic diocese in the world. Like any responsible organization, the diocese continually assesses and evaluates the ways in which it meets the pastoral and sacramental needs of the people in our communities.”
In its announcement, the diocese said the planning and changes are necessary in order to ensure that the diocese is adapting to three critical and compounding factors: 

Fewer priests (current and projected in the future) in the diocese to serve far-reaching 114 parishes.
Variations in sacramental participation trends.
Demographic shifts of both growth and decline in areas of the diocese.

Twenty-one of the 114 parishes in the diocese will be turned into oratories. This means these churches will not conduct weekly Mass but could still conduct weddings and funerals. If local congregations are unable to maintain the building, it would be closed.
The Winona Diocese currently has 100 priests; half are retired. This means 50 active priests will be serving the diocese’s 114 parishes.  Multiple churches are known as clusters. The numbers are expected to continue declining in the next five years. Parishes in a cluster retain their respective corporation, assets, liabilities, worship sites and property.
Clusters in Steele County that included St. Joseph, Christ the King and Corpus Christi will now include St. Joseph in Owatonna and Christ the King in Medford.
St. Columbanus in Blooming Prairie will continue to be in a cluster with Sacred Heart in Hayfield. Added to that cluster will be St. John Baptist de la Salle in Dodge Center. That cluster will also include the parish members from St. Mary in Geneva, which will merge with St. Columbanus. St. Francis de Sales in Claremont and St. Vincent de Paul in West Concord will merge with St. John Baptist de la Salle.
All Saints in New Richland is in a cluster with St. Mary in Geneva and St. Aiden in Ellendale. All Saints will be in a new cluster with St. Joseph in Waldorf and St. Ann in Janesville.
Quinn said, “Together we will set goals toward Vision 2016 that will help us continue being the light of Christ in the world. We will together define the key actions we must take at the parish level to build the Catholic Church and to attend to the pastoral sacramental needs of the faithful. ‚Ķ We will grow in our faith and be strengthened in our Catholic identity so we can enable our parishes and schools and thus the entire Diocese of Winona to indeed become a stronger, more visible presence of Christ in southern Minnesota.”
The Diocese of Winona encompasses 13,000 square miles of the southern 20 counties of Minnesota, serving a population of more than 131,000 Catholics. Currently, there are 114 parishes/missions, more than 100 active and retired priests, 365 sisters, 21 religious brothers, 20 deacons and nearly 200 professional lay ministers. There are 29 Catholic schools and a Catholic university for women and men, St. Mary’s University.
More detailed information regarding Vision 2016 is available on the website www.dow.org/vision2016 and in current and past issues of The Courier newspaper www.dowcourier.org.