Europe: The churches are closing
Bishop Peter Brignall, bishop of Wrexham, in northern Wales, announced on March 31, 2016, the “upcoming closing” of 22 out of 62 churches in his diocese. In a pastoral letter whose principal extracts were taken by La Croix on April 27, the Welsh bishop reflected that the measure would be seen as “shocking” by some persons and “not radical enough for others.” He nonetheless judged that this “new challenge” represented an “immense opportunity for renewal” (sic). The prelate planned a “global restructuring” of the diocese, along with changes in the Mass schedule.
The church of St. Catherine in Brussels.
According to La Croix, at the root of the restructuring is “the cruel lack of priests” in the diocese, which includes all of northern Wales. Projections indeed show that there will be only 22 priests below retirement age in the diocese in 2020.
In Belgium, on March 22, 2016, La Libre Belgique revealed that the diocese of Malines-Brussels is planning to close churches in the region, “but after consulting with parishes.” On April 25, German Catholic website Katholisches – Magazin für Kirche und Kultur confirmed this information, announcing the closing or the “soon”-to-be sale of 36 out of 110 churches. Among these, according to the Belgian Catholic reinformation blog Belgicatho on April 25, is the church of St. Catherine. Located on the site of the ancient port of Brussels, the building closed its doors at the end of 2011. A plan to transform the building into a covered marketplace was under review at the time (see DICI no. 245, 25/11/11). However, on September 20, 2014, following a decision of the current archbishop of Malines-Brussels, Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard, the church was reopened for worship in the care of the Fraternity of the Holy Apostles. Since then Archbishop Leonard has been replaced by Archbishop Jozef De Kesel, and, according to Katholisches, the “policy of closing and selling” has been taken up again. The diocese has nonetheless denied the rumour of the closing of this parish which, according to La Libre Belgique on April 29, “is full at Sunday Masses,” and has since its opening drawn three new vocations.
Officially, no definitive decision has been taken about places of worship to be closed. But for Giuseppe Nardi on Katholisches, the signals sent are concerning. The columnist refers to “the parish priest of a small parish on the list of closures,” who has asked that his church not be closed but rather left to the Polish community, without its own church. “The proposal was, however, refused.” A large number of churches in Brussels will therefore be “put up for sale on the real estate market.” For Katholisches, this is “a very sad finale in the decline of the post-conciliar Church, ever-ready to laud itself and claim to be “without any alternative.”
(Sources: kipa-apic.ch – Katholisches – Benoit et moi – La Croix – La Libre – Belgicatho – DICI no. 335, 06/05/16)
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