Parishes that stop holding weekend Masses as part of the Archdiocese of Detroit’s massive restructuring, now under evaluation, could still offer weekday Masses and other activities, but some buildings will ultimately close, archdiocesan officials said.
The Archdiocese of Detroit hasn’t decided which churches will close — steering clear of even using the term “closure” — as it releases draft models for how its roughly 200 parishes could be grouped in the future under the two-year restructuring plan. At least 58 parishes across southeast Michigan would not hold Saturday Vigil Mass or Sunday Mass under at least one of the models.
Models for nine of 15 planning areas have been released so far. The models for the final six planning areas will be released on June 18, according to the archdiocese’s restructuring website.
Archdiocese of Detroit Associate Director of Communications Holly Fournier said in a Monday email that “pastorate” groupings ― or groupings of parishes overseen by one pastor ― will be announced in April of 2027. She said some of the pastorates will include churches designated as sites without scheduled weekend Masses. Daily weekday Masses, weddings, funerals, devotions and other parish activities could initially still take place at these locations “at the discretion of the pastor,” she said.
“Such arrangements are simply one possible way of ensuring that the priests assigned to a pastorate can adequately cover weekend Mass obligations across multiple worship sites,” Fournier said.
She emphasized that the models, which the archdiocese is releasing at parish listening sessions, are just draft proposals “intended to solicit feedback from parishioners.” She said no decisions have been made regarding pastorate groupings, weekend Mass schedules or any other aspect of the restructuring process.
The Rev. Mario Amore, executive director of parish renewal for the Archdiocese of Detroit, said that in time, some parish buildings will close.
“It’s just the reality that we’re facing right now,” he said in an interview last month. “We simply can’t continue to fund all of the different maintenance needs of … some of these buildings.”
No final decisions have been made about when and where weekend Masses would cease, or what models will proceed from which planning areas. But the models have raised questions among some parishioners about what will and won’t be allowed in archdiocesan buildings without weekend Masses, especially if the archdiocese is trying to cut down on building costs.
If some parishes don’t offer Sunday Mass but still conduct baptisms, weddings and funerals, Jennifer Barth, a fifth-generation parishioner at St. Hyacinth, wondered how the churches would be funded. She said the parish would still need to pay utility bills and maintain the building.
“Where is that money going to come from to keep that building active to host those events? So if you were going to do that, then why couldn’t we have a weekly Mass there and bring in a priest from the Capuchins or one of the other different societies?” she said, referring to the Capuchin friars and members of other religious orders.
The archdiocese, which serves about 900,000 Catholics in Metro Detroit, is undergoing its biggest restructuring in years, which was announced last fall.
At the time, Archbishop Edward Weisenburger said the archdiocese can’t maintain the roughly 200 existing parish buildings it has and is working to “right-size” the archdiocese, along with its personnel and financial resources.
The archdiocese has been divided into 15 planning areas, or geographic areas, and three or four models are being proposed for each planning area. The models have different potential groupings of parishes, in which a grouping would share a pastor and potentially other priests.
The archdiocese is holding listening sessions with parishioners this spring and early summer to get reactions.
No longer offering Sunday Masses
Amore said that if a church stops holding Saturday Vigil or Sunday Mass, parishioners are encouraged to worship at other churches in their “pastorate,” or grouping. He said “if they’re able,” a parish community could continue to hold weddings, funerals, baptisms and other events at the church.
The ending of weekend Masses could also mean that the building closes. Or it could mean that the parish buildings are repurposed. A community could decide to hold religious education classes at one site, for example.
The church community could also partner with an outside community organization.
“How might the church building or other facilities of the parish be utilized … to serve the needs of the community?” Amore said. “So we can talk about housing opportunities or different ways in which those facilities can be used to minister to particular needs of the community in which the church is in.”
Fournier said decisions about whether to hold weekday Masses or other activities at a parish would generally be made by the parish’s pastor in consultation with the community.
Just as there is no list yet of churches halting weekend Masses, Fournier said, there is also no “blanket decision” that churches without weekend Masses must close.
“First, we need parishioners to focus on providing their feedback so we can get these models right,” she said. “Once pastorates are decided and implemented next year based on parishioner feedback, only then can pastors work with their communities to address Mass schedules and potential building closures at the local level.”
Parishioners react to archdiocese proposals
St. Constance in Taylor is one of the 58 churches where weekend Masses would stop. Under each of the draft models proposed for Planning Area 4, Sunday Mass would cease at the church on Kinyon Street.
Bernice Merchak, a St. Constance parishioner, wondered who would celebrate the baptisms, weddings and funerals at her parish if it stopped holding Sunday Mass. Her parish currently shares a priest with St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church.
Merchak said many of the parishioners at St. Constance are “getting up in age,” and some need their family members to transport them to Mass on Sundays. The family members may be less available to take them to Mass on a weekday if they’re still held at St. Constance.
“Who would bring them?” she asked.
Merchak, 85, said she has mixed emotions about the parish only offering baptisms, funerals, weddings and similar events, and she wants it to continue having a Sunday Mass.
She said she has a large family, and they are all Catholic.
“But when I get up on a Sunday morning to go to Mass, I say, ‘Oh, I’m going to see my other family,’” she said, referring to St. Constance’s parishioners.
She said they greet each other at the church, and if two people haven’t seen each other in a while, they hug each other.
St. Hyacinth in Detroit also wouldn’t hold weekend Mass under each of the archdiocese’s draft models for Planning Area 3. Under two models, the only parishes in St. Hyacinth’s pastorate that would offer weekend Mass would be St. Florian Parish in Hamtramck and Mother of Divine Mercy Parish in Detroit. Under a third model, Assumption Grotto Church in Detroit would also be part of the pastorate and would hold weekend Mass as well.
Barth, whose family has attended St. Hyacinth for generations, said she doesn’t think all the church’s parishioners would start going to Sunday Mass at other churches in the pastorate. Some may choose to attend Mass closer to where they live. She said the majority of the parishioners at St. Hyacinth travel there from the suburbs because their families have been part of the parish for generations or have another tie to the church.
“My family has six generations that have gone to St. Hyacinth’s, so we’re really deeply rooted there and have a lot of history,” she said.
Barth said that a majority of the parishioners are Polish American, as many Polish people used to live near the church. But people of other backgrounds are part of the parish as well.
Facility upkeep
Fournier said any funds given through the weekly offertory and designated for a parish, even one without weekend Masses, will continue to support the upkeep of its buildings and facilities.
“This applies for funds contributed at a different worship site, so parishioners may continue to support their parish while attending Mass elsewhere,” she said.
Fournier said the archdiocese is encouraging all Catholics to attend their parish listening sessions and complete the post-session survey at restructuring.aod.org, so they can have a voice in the process.
asnabes@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: What would happen to churches in Archdiocese of Detroit where weekend Masses may stop?
Reporting by Anne Snabes, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Anne Snabes, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
