Part I – The Reasons for and the Process of Reconfiguration
After assuming leadership of the Archdiocese of Boston, Archbishop Seán gradually became aware of several important factors which singularly and taken together were having a negative impact on the ability of the Archdiocese of Boston to provide pastoral care for all of the faithful in an equitable manner and to fulfill the mission of the Church in all its aspects.  The four factors are: 

* Demographic shifts in population - Over the years sections of the Archdiocese of Boston have experienced dramatic shifts in population, in some cases, rapid increase of numbers of people, and in other cases, rapid or steady decline in parishioners. 

* A decline in the number of priests of the Archdiocese of Boston available for Archdiocesan assignments, with a rapidly aging Presbyterate. 

* Financial challenges affecting a sizable percentage of parishes whereby they either are unable to provide necessary and important pastoral care because of limited funds or providing pastoral care with a resultant failure to pay operating expenses.

* The deteriorating condition of Archdiocesan properties - The city of Boston survey indicates to address required maintenance needs would cost $104,000,000 dollars of the parish buildings in just the city of Boston alone. 

THE OBJECTIVE
Archbishop Seán has called for the reconfiguration of the Archdiocese of Boston, specifically the location of parishes to address the object of providing pastoral care.  This is one dimension of the much larger objective which Archbishop Seán shared in his installation homily “Rebuild My Church.”  His considered opinion is that we must meet and address the challenges arising from the above four challenges in a way that strengthens the vitality of the Church.  Meeting this challenge is the underlying motivation behind reconfiguration.

THE PROCESS
The process of identifying the changes to be made began in January with parishes gathering in clusters to address and respond to two questions that had been asked in Bishop Lennon’s 10 January 2004 letter:

* If the Archbishop needs to close a parish in your cluster for the greater good of the Archdiocese, how would you recommend that your cluster of parishes be reconfigured and why?

* If the Archbishop needs to close more than one parish in your cluster, how many parishes would you recommend for closure and how would you recommend that your cluster be reconfigured and why?

The responses were forwarded to the Vicars by 8 March 2004.  Having received those responses, the Vicars made comments upon them, ranging from affirming what the clusters had recommended to indicating reservations about those recommendations and suggesting other ways of providing Church presence.  This same procedure was followed by the Regional Bishops who received the cluster recommendations sent to the Vicars along with the Vicar’s report.   Upon completing their work, the entire package of materials relative to each cluster was forwarded to Bishop Lennon for presentation to the Central Committee. 

The Central Committee, composed of twenty-four people, both lay and clergy, met regularly over several months to consider the cluster recommendations, the recommendations of the Vicar and Regional Bishop in the context of the guidelines put forth by Archbishop Sean.  After hours of analysis and deliberation, the Central Committee made its recommendations  to Archbishop Sean including, in some cases, of a different perspective on the question of Church presence within a cluster than had been offered by the Cluster, Vicars, or Regional Bishops.

METHOD USED BY THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
The Central Committee in fulfilling its mandate adopted various rules/principles which were established by Archbishop Sean.  While absolute rules by definition would be few in number, he required that two basic principles be applied by the Central Committee.

* The first rule was that recommendations for closures were not to be made solely on the basis of economics alone.  If decided on that basis, parishes in wealthy communities would realize a distinct advantage over parishes serving the needs of less affluent parishioners.  The restructured Archdiocese must fairly meet the needs of all members of the community.

* The second rule was that there must be appropriate attention given to the needs of the poor and the vulnerable in our midst and to new communities of people within the Archdiocese of Boston. 

These principles were stable guidelines for the Central Committee’s deliberation and analysis but could be overridden by defined exceptions or unique circumstances that pertain to a particular area. 

In light of the above, the following specific criteria were then factored by the Central Committee in reaching its recommendations:

* No one of the factors contributing to the need for reconfiguration was considered preeminent. 
* Consideration was given to the sacramental index and the mass attendance and if a remaining parish had the resources, physical and financial, to sustain the addition of more activity. 
* The worship needs of ethnic groups would be considered but final decisions would flow through the Ethnic Apostolate Office/ Hispanic Affairs Office to the Secretary for Pastoral Services to the Archbishop.
* Catholic schools would as far as possible be retained and given the parish support that would enable them to carry on their work. 
* Indications, trends for growth or decline in the population upon which a parish draws and upon the experience of the parish itself were considered as indicators for coming to a decision for reconfiguration. 

The result of this entire process was, in turn, turned over to Archbishop Seán who began his careful review of all of this material, which he then presented to Presbyteral Council over the course of three days in order to hear their thoughts regarding what he was considering for parish closures.  At the conclusion of the meetings with the Presbyteral Council, Archbishop Seán returned to his own deliberations and after prayer and careful consideration has made the following decisions which he wishes to share with the people of the Archdiocese of Boston.

Part II – The Plan of Reconfiguration
There are presently 357 parishes in the Archdiocese of Boston that are divided into 5 Regions.  The Regions themselves are broken down into vicariates of which there are 22 in total.  Finally the vicariates are finally broken into 82 clusters.  There will be changes in every one of the 82 clusters.  The range of those changes is as follows: 

* Parishes that will remain open and will be receiving new parishioners:

* Suppressed Parishes: These are parishes that will be closed within a specific time period in which the parish church will be closed as a worship space.

* Suppressed Parishes in which the church will remain open:  These are parishes that will be closed within a specific time period in which the church will be kept open and maintained by the receiving parish.

* Parishes within a cluster that will be kept open for the time being but are required to develop a plan for future consolidation or ministry.

Regional reports

Central Region
The Central Region of the Archdiocese of Boston is presently made up of 77 parishes in 5 cities and towns.  From 1985 -2003, 15 parishes were closed in the Central Region.  In the reconfiguration, 20 parishes will be closing, one parish will be closed but the church will remain open, and 2 new parishes will be established for a total of 58 parishes in the Central Region.

Parish closings (16):
Brighton, Our Lady of the Presentation
Boston, Holy Trinity (closing on 6/30/05)
Boston, St. Ann University Parish
Brookline, Infant Jesus – St. Lawrence
Cambridge, Blessed Sacrament
Cambridge, Immaculate Conception, Lithuanian (closing at the end of the present pastorate)
Cambridge, Somerville – Immaculate Conception
Charlestown – St. Catherine of Siena
Dorchester, Roxbury – St. Mary of the Angels
East Boston – Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
East Boston – St. Mary Star of the Sea
Hyde Park – St. Adalbert, Lithuanian (closing at the end of the present pastorate)
Hyde Park – St. Joseph
Jamaica Plain – Blessed Sacrament
South Boston – St. Augustine
South Boston – St. Peter

Parish closing, church to stay open as a worship space (1):
Boston, Sacred Heart in the North End

Parish closings (4) with creation of 2 new parishes:
Dorchester - St. Williams
Dorchester - St. Margaret   - both to close and form a new parish
Roxbury - St. Francis-St. Philip
Roxbury - St. John-St. Hugh    - both to close and form a new parish

West Region
The West Region of the Archdiocese of Boston is presently made up of 53 parishes in 23 cities and towns.  From 1985-2003, 4 parishes were closed in the West Region.  In the reconfiguration, 11 parishes will be closing and one parish will be closed but the church will remain open for a total of 42 parishes.

Parish closings (11):
Bellingham, Assumption
Belmont, Our Lady of Mercy
Framingham, St. Jeremiah
Marlborough, St. Mary
Natick, Sacred Heart
Newton, St. Bernard
Newton, Mary Immaculate of Lourdes
Sudbury, St. Anselm
Waltham, St. Joseph
Watertown, Sacred Heart
Wellesley, St. James the Great

Parish closing, church to stay open as a worship space:
Marlborough, St. Ann

Merrimack Region
The Merrimack Region of the Archdiocese of Boston is presently made up of 68 parishes in 37 cities and towns.  From 1985-2003, 17 parishes were closed and 2 parishes created in the Merrimack Region.  In the present reconfiguration, 5 parishes will be closing, one parish will be closed but the church will remain open, and 1 new parish will be established for a total of 64 parishes in the Merrimack Region.  n.b. These figures do not include the 10-11 parishes that are slated to be closed in Lowell and Lawrence in the next few months.

Parish Closing:
Lexington, Sacred Heart

Parish closing, church to stay open as a worship space (2):
Lincoln, St. Joseph
Stow, St. Isidore

Parish closings (2) with creation of a new parish:
Concord, St. Bernard
Concord, Our Lady Help of Christians

North Region
The North Region of the Archdiocese of Boston is presently made up of 79 parishes in 31 cities and towns.  From 1985 - 2003, 8 parishes were closed in the North Region.  In the reconfiguration, 18 parishes will be closing for a total of 57 parishes in the North Region.

Parish closings (18):
Arlington, St. James
Arlington, St. Jerome
Beverly, St. Alphonsus
Beverly, St. Margaret
Everett. St. Therese
Gloucester, Sacred Heart
Gloucester, St. Peter
Lynn, St. Michael (effective 2006)
Malden, St. Peter
Medford, Sacred Heart
Medford, St. James
Revere, Our Lady of Lourdes
Rockport, St. Joachim (may stay open as a worship space)
Salem, St. Joseph
Salem-Peabody, St. Thomas the Apostle
Wakefield, St. Florence
Winchester, Immaculate Conception
Woburn, St. Joseph

South Region
The South Region of the Archdiocese of Boston is presently made up of 80 parishes in 41 cities and towns.  From 1985 - 2003, 4 parishes were closed and 1 parish created in the South Region.  In the reconfiguration, 13 parishes will be closing, one parish will be closed but the church will remain open, two parishes will be merged into one, and 1 new parish will be established for a total of 68 parishes in the South Region.

Parish closings (13):
Brockton, St. Margaret
Dedham, St. Susanna
Milton, St. Pius X
Norwood, St. George
Plymouth, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
Quincy, Star of the Sea
Scituate, St. Francis Xavier Cabrini
Stoughton, St. James
Weymouth, St. Albert the Great

Parish closing, church to stay open as a worship space (1):
Rochester, St. Rose of Lima

Parish closings (2) with creation of a new parishes:
Quincy – Most Blessed Sacrament
Quincy - St. Elizabeth                           - both to close to form a new parish

Parishes (2) to merge and form a new parish:
Brockton, Sacred Heart
Brockton, St. Colman of Cloyne

Reconfiguration and Particular Communities

Deaf Apostolate
There are currently two Deaf Worshipping Communities in the Archdiocese: the A.S.L. Chaplaincy (temporarily located at Saint John’s Seminary) and the Deaf Community Center located at Saint Anselm Parish, Sudbury. In a recently submitted pastoral plan for the continuation of Deaf Ministry in the Archdiocese, they proposed their merging into a single worshipping community for the deaf. A new parish location, as central as possible to the entire Archdiocese, will be secured for this community and the Archbishop will assign the community to that parish. Also, a regular Sunday parish Mass is signed weekly, bi-weekly or monthly in seven other parishes around the Archdiocese; none of these parishes have been affected by the reconfiguration

Ethnic Apostolates / Hispanic Apostolate
From among the 357 parishes of the Archdiocese, there are 126 Ethnic/Hispanic Worshipping Communities. These consist of 41 “personal parishes” (parishes that were established to serve the needs of a particular group of people) and 85 “ethnic communities” (recognized communities of various ethnic backgrounds that worship [usually in their own language] within a territorial parish or a personal parish that was established for a different group.

Thirteen personal parishes are being affected at the present time by this reconfiguration process; in only 2 of those parishes is the language of the ethnic community still used for worship. These 2 communities will need to be welcomed into a “receiving parish,” while the future needs of the other affected parishes will be discussed and those needs responded to by a neighboring parish community.

Another 18 “ethnic communities” are being affected due to the closure of the parishes in which these communities worship and carry on their pastoral life. In 9 of these cases, the local clusters made specific recommendations for the continued ministry of these communities: in one case the “combining” of 3 neighboring Hispanic communities, in another the “combining” of 2 neighboring Vietnamese communities. They feel that bringing these communities together will serve to strengthen their worship life as well as their pastoral programs and outreach. In the other instances, the clusters recommended a new parish community eager to extend hospitality and to welcome the ethnic community as a part of their parish community.

For the remaining “ethnic communities” further consultation will take place among the lay leadership of the local community, the neighboring pastors, area vicar and regional bishop. This consultation will be facilitated by the staffs of the Offices of Ethnic Apostolates and Hispanic Apostolate, under the direction of the Secretary for Pastoral Services.

In all of the above cases for both personal parishes and ethnic communities, at the conclusion of the consultation, recommendations will be brought to the Archbishop who will make pastoral decisions concerning the future care of these faithful of the Archdiocese.

Part III – Implementation of Reconfiguration

The reconfiguration process now moves into implementation.  The first major event is a meeting on Thursday, May 27 at St. Julia Parish in Weston of all pastors and priests from the parishes that are closing.  The purpose of this meeting is two-fold: to begin to lend support to priests and to lay-out the closing process. 

Within the next week or so, parishes will be informed as to the scheduled date for closing and the parishes that will be receiving the new territory and people.  There will also be a series of regional meetings for parishes that are closing in order to help them with their work.