Hexham unveils plans to cope with fewer priests and Massgoers

RADICAL PLANS to deal with the crisis caused by a dwindling number of both priests and Massgoers in Hexham and Newcastle diocese are to be revealed this weekend, writes Joanna Moorhead.

In a pastoral letter to be read out in parishes Bishop Seamus Cunningham explains that only five priests in the diocese are aged under 40, and numbers at Mass are down from around 100,000 in the 1980s to 40,000 today.

“We could be very despondent about this but I am not,” writes Bishop Cunningham, saying that the path ahead is a new initiative called Forward Together in Hope, which will involve every parish being given a questionnaire to “help to provide a realistic picture of how each community can flourish in the future”.

Pope Francis, the bishop says, is inviting everyone to become “missionary disciples”. He writes, however, that the diocese needs to look “at numbers in communities and the geographical proximity of other worshipping communities”.

Fr Jim O’Keefe, diocesan development director and the priest leading the project, said that although his area was perhaps at “the sharp end” of change, many other dioceses were facing a similar situation.

“The diminishment is significant, but this is not just about numbers and buildings,” he said. “This is a genuine opportunity for discipleship.”

A leaflet to be distributed alongside the letter lays out the timeline of the three-stage project. Stage one, which lasts until spring 2015, focuses on informing the diocese about the project. Stage two, from spring next year into summer 2016, involves questionnaires, meetings and discussion, and stage three, finishing in summer 2017, will involve communicating the decisions reached and supporting parishes in their move to whatever new arrangements have been decided on.
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