Parishes prepare for changes

The diocese already went through one major downsizing after many Catholics moved away in search of jobs in the wake of the steel bust. A 1992-94 overhaul under then-Bishop Donald Wuerl reduced parishes from 332 to 218. Some closings, particularly those of ethnic parishes, were bitterly protested.

But the catalyst for that consolidation — overall numerical decline — has only continued. That mirrors broader trends, with many Northern and Midwestern dioceses undergoing similar reductions in parishes and schools. Many older urban Protestant and Jewish congregations have closed due to similar factors.

The Catholic Church says the number of members is growing in the United States, particularly in the Sunbelt, although some researchers using other counting methods disagree.

What the church’s own numbers do say is that Catholics are doing fewer Catholic things — such as being baptized, confirmed or married in the church or educated in its schools.

Explanations vary depending on who’s offering them — smaller families, secularization, the appeal of evangelical Protestant worship, alienation from Catholic teachings on sexuality or divorce. The crisis of sexual abuse by priests has also taken its toll — and Catholics received a jolting reminder of that scandal this month when the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office subpoenaed Pittsburgh’s and five other dioceses’ files on abusive priests.

Bishop Zubik said he initiated the On Mission planning process when meeting with priests in 2015. They urged a long-range plan that would keep parishes viable for the next 20 years, rather than imposing piecemeal solutions. Even so, some parishes and schools are already closing or merging due to financial struggles that couldn’t wait for a 2018 solution. The overall goal, Bishop Zubik said, is a leaner church with a strong social impact: “It isn’t just for registered members of the church of Pittsburgh, but it’s for everybody because we want to make a big difference.”