BRONSON, MI (WTVB) – The bishop of the Diocese of Kalamazoo has begun to lay out a plan that would revamp how parishes work together, and in some cases, how priests are assigned. Bishop Paul Bradley held a two hour meeting at St Mary’s of Assumption Catholic Church in Bronson Thursday to introduce the new Diocesan Collaboratives. Bishop Bradley told the large crowd at St Mary’s gym that the plan is not about closing or merging parishes, but instead finding ways to redistribute and share priests. He said each parish will continue to maintain its own unique identity and strengths.
There are 59 parishes with the 9 county Diocese of Kalamazoo, but only 54 priests. Seven of those priests are within two years of the retirement age of 70, while six more are eligible for retirement in five years. There are almost 110,000 registered Catholics in the diocese.
Branch County would be organized into one collaborative, with St Charles Borromeo Church in Coldwater, St Mary’s of Assumption in Bronson, and Our Lady of Fatima in Union City. There would be one pastor for all three parishes, as well as a parochial vicar, or assistant priest. There are just under 1,500 registered Catholic families in the three parishes.
St Barbara Catholic Church in Colon, which currently is a mission parish served by Father Richard Fritz of St Mary’s, would be moved to a collaborative with parishes in Three Rivers and Centreville.
Because of the new groupings and priests serving multiple parishes, Bishop Bradley hopes to have new Mass schedules worked out by the end of March. New assignments for prients would be announced in the spring, with the plan taking effect July 1, 2016.
