Keeping the Church Alive Pastoral Care for the People of God November 2007 Executive Summary Background and Objectives Since the time of Jesus, the Church has been in a constant process of change as it continues to renew faith and discern the will of God. At certain points this has been more dramatic and at other times less so. Sometimes it involves the whole Church and other times particular parts of it. However, the common elements remain the same. We are all baptized in the name of God and our baptism calls us forth to love God, ourselves and our neighbour. How this happens will be different depending on people, time, place and history. We are called forth today as much as were the apostles after the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. The current efforts in Diocesan restructuring have been on-going since 1994 and have included studies, structural initiatives and many consultations across the diocese. It is widely recognized that change is not going to happen but rather that it is happening. Since starting this process in 1993 we have seen two churches closed, another was closed due to unsound physical structure and some others have had restricted use due often to the prohibitively high cost of heat and winter maintenance. We have moved from the model of ‘one priest - one parish’ to that of ‘one priest - multiple parishes’. While there have been many good initiatives in pastoral ministry, many of the faithful continue to echo the priorities that were identified in 1993-4. In addition to Mass and the sacraments many people really want their Church to be able to be more present to families, youth, seniors, the sick and grieving. We look to the experience of our parents and grandparents and expect that the Church can be as responsive to the world today as it was in the past. However we are in a world of change and to be most responsive to the world of today requires us to approach the pastoral care of the faithful with renewed vigour and purpose, to embrace our reality as we understand it and to actively acknowledge the continuing presence of God in the life of the world. These actions are fundamentally actions of hope and love and this perspective is our guide in 2007 as it was to the apostles in the holy land in the early years of the Church. “Keeping the Church Alive” outlines, for discussion purposes throughout the diocese, some of the next steps to pastoral renewal. The title is taken from the basic premise of Bishop Fougere’s comments at the Diocesan Consultation in May 2007. In these comments he urged all of the diocese to consider the life of the Church outside of the buildings in order to address the question of ‘keeping the Church alive and not simply keeping our churches open.’ In the last two years there have been: two diocesan consultations to which all parishes and priests were invited; deanery discussions in each of the four deaneries, request to Parish Pastoral Councils -PPC to dialogue around specific points and share insights into the future, and two Clergy Days in which the priests of the diocese were asked to consider and give recommendations on the pastoral renewal of the diocese. At the first Clergy Day the priests of the diocese underscored the importance of a plan not as a theoretical document but as a series of actions that would allow the diocesan church to accomplish its mission. (The priests said ‘Just do it!’) They noted that the central part of any plan has to ‘consider and respond to the needs of the people and their situation today.’ At the second Clergy Day on October 9, 2007 the priests agreed that the basics outlined in this blueprint are right for the diocese and we should move to implementing them. This blueprint is based on input from clergy and laity using information and experience The main objective in this process is pastoral renewal on the basis of renewed parish life and it will by necessity include closing of some churches, merging of parishes and/or reorientation of parish boundaries. As this is building on work that has already been done, we will look at the following points that are essential to pastoral renewal. the priority to make Sunday Eucharist and the sacraments available to as many persons as possible, the need for proper pastoral care of the people of the Diocese of Charlottetown, The willingness of the laity to become more involved in all aspects of Church life and ministry, the interest expressed by parishioners to oversee and undertake administrative tasks as required by individual parishes, respecting norms of Canon Law, the declining number of active priests in our diocese. This discussion document of the draft blueprint is based on a goal to have a pastoral awakening of the people of God that will renew our parish life, acknowledge explicitly the many good works that are already done in the community by people of faith as a result of their love for God and celebrate all that is our faith through the sacramental and liturgical life of the parish. The proposals presented in the draft blueprint are based on the concerns that DPIC has heard over the past years: pastoral care for people, assuring access to Eucharist and other sacraments, care and concern for clergy, population shifts, social changes, etc. Priests and people have asked for specifics in a plan and that proposed changes happen. In moving from 59 parishes and missions to 17 parishes with 31 churches the blueprint dramat-ically alters the parish structure of the diocese. However, by focussing on the pastoral objectives we should see more hope for the future of the Church. By involving Parish Pastoral Councils and Property and Finance Committees in dialogue with other members of the parish we hope that more Catholics become more aware and more active of how our faith guides our actions. This is the movement of the Holy Spirit and it will make us effective agents of evangelization and more responsive to the pastoral opportunities and needs across the diocese.   The Parish: the Focus of Pastoral Planning Since the beginning of the pastoral planning process people have identified particular areas of ministry which they would like to see emphasized in the life of the Church including: religious education, sacraments, youth, lay formation, communication, social justice, etc . Many of our efforts in the last 15 years have focussed on diocesan structures. There have been various initiatives in many of those areas. The focus for the process in which we are currently engaged is the parish. The parish is the basis through which the Church lives in the world. It is where the faithful gather regularly to celebrate Eucharist and to bear witness to the love of God. It is how we are “initiated, nurtured, supported and sustained as Christian faithful in community.” [Rev. James A. Coriden. “The rights of Parishes.” Studia Canonica 28. 1994 ] The diocese brings together all of these parishes to form one portion of the People of God. Pastoral restructuring in the Diocese revolves around using the gifts and resources that are available to strengthen the ministry done in the parish. It also reflects the principle of subsidiarity in which we affirm that which can be done at the most local level should be done at that level. Viable and active parishes are communities that live the missionary, catechetical and pastoral call of the Church. [c.f. General Directory for Catechesis. CCCB. Conacan, Ottawa. 1997] These three aspects of parish life are maintained through the actions of the sacramental-liturgical life, faith formation and teaching of doctrine, and the pastoral care actions of justice, charity and service. From another consideration there are 7 pillars which serve to keep the Church alive. Those pillars are: Evangelization, Worship, Word of God, Community, Service, Stewardship and Leadership. Pastoral renewal in the diocese depends on the opportunity to have a renewed emphasis on these within the parishes. This then, is the reason why the main shift in pastoral renewal is the restructuring of almost every parish boundary in the diocese. The goal of these changes is to re-orient our parish communities to more accurately reflect our changing circumstances. There are a number of specific reasons for these changes: population shifts; geographic distribution; other demographic trends; and the number. Population shifts: our Diocese has a new reality. When many of our churches were built they were to cover a very limited area, but they were also surrounded by family farms and some local businesses. The population of the province was overwhelmingly rural. Now in the 21st century the population of PEI is predominantly urban. Since the mid-1960s we have witnessed dramatic changes across the province such as school consolidation, the closure of rural post-offices and small businesses, and an approximate 90% drop in family farms. Almost half of the population lives in Charlottetown or Summerside and the surrounding suburban communities. Geographic distribution: The geographic permanency of our physical structures does not make it easy to respond to shifting populations. Many of our parishes were built through the late 19th and early 20th century where people were living and when vehicles and roads were not designed for the amount of travel that we experience today. As a result we have relatively short distances between parishes and we have a large number of smaller parishes. Almost half of our parishes have less than 200 families. These smaller parishes were viable when there were more priests and the churches were more easily maintained. In the draft blueprint, access to the celebration of Eucharist and the other sacraments is the top priority although not the only one. The pastoral restructuring plan will still allow most people to drive to their parish within 20 minutes or less and very few would be more than 30 minutes. Other demographic trends: The population shift projected by the provincial government highlights another pastoral context. The province projects that by 2016 there will be very small growth in population in both Prince and Queen’s counties and shrinkage in King’s county. Also we are looking at a 25% increase in the population over the age of 50 through that time frame and a 15% decrease in the population under the age of 25. Both of these latter figures will direct some of our pastoral ministry. Priests: All of our parishes should have a parish priest responsible for only one parish. Adequate care for the church requires all of us to continue to pray for and promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life. We should acknowledge the current situation as regards clergy: there are currently 32 active clergy in parish ministry of whom 6 are over 65 years of age, 9 are between 60-65 years old and 17 are 59 years of age and younger.