An article in the Sept. 12 edition of The Catholic Sentinel, newspaper of the Portland Archdiocese, illustrates a changing picture of U.S. Catholic churches: priests serving as pastors for at least two parishes.
Although writer Ed Langlois is just writing about the situation in Oregon, he quotes a Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate report estimating that 30 percent to 40 percent of U.S. Catholic parishes are sharing a priest. The story also notes that the Official Catholic Directory shows that more than 3,000 parishes nationwide are without a resident pastor. One of the priests Langlois interviewed had this to say about the double-pastoring role: ”It is a compromise solution in an imperfect world.”
