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 Bishop Ronald Fabbro, CSB
Bishop Ronald Fabbro, CSB, explained the rationale for the changes in a pastoral letter issued last month and distributed to all churches in the diocese. He told The Catholic Register in an interview Nov. 8 that the changes are the culmination of a diocesan pastoral plan announced on Pentecost Sunday in 2004.
After more consultation, the plan evolved to include the shift in resources.
“People saw that this is where our church needed to go,” he said. “We had some very competent laity and laity that really wanted to serve the church.”
What they felt they lacked was proper education and formation in Catholic teaching and tradition. To meet that need, the bishop announced the creation of the Institute for Catholic Formation. It will be centred at St. Peter's Seminary in London but have bases in other parts of the diocese.
The diocese serves 622,000 Catholics and covers a geographic area from Lake Erie in the south, Windsor to the west, Perth County to the east and Huron County in the north.
“The Institute, for me, is the most exciting part of this because it gives lay people a leadership role,” the bishop said.
In his pastoral letter, the bishop explained that the Institute will provide “educational and formational opportunities for lay and clergy leaders, and for all who work in parish ministries. . . . It will be responsible for our already existing lay ministry and diaconate formation programs, workshops and programs at sites across the diocese.”
Fabbro said he hoped the Institute would evolve to include programs for Catholic teachers. He said there have been ongoing discussions with Assumption University in Windsor and King's College at the University of Western Ontario in London on how they could work together.
Several factors have led to the changes in the diocese. The decline in the number of priests, high pay-outs to settle sex abuse lawsuits, expensive renovations to St. Peter's Cathedral in London, and support for World Youth Day in 2002 have put pressure on the diocese to find cost-savings and creative ways to serve Catholics.
The diocese has already gone through sometimes wrenching struggles to close some churches and combine others in a method known as clustering, in which a single pastor might oversee two or three parishes, assisted by lay administrators. By the end of the parish restructuring in June 2008, the 153 parish buildings will be reduced to 123.
The restructuring of the diocesan offices will eliminate 22 of 70 positions, Fabbro explained. However, the creation of the Institute will mean roughly 12 new positions and those staff who have lost their jobs have been invited to apply for the new positions.
“We've worked very hard with our employees to give them the support they needed.”
The diocese is now posting the new positions and hopes to have the Institute in place by Jan. 1, 2008.
“Although these decisions have been difficult, I am confident this reorganized diocesan structure will provide excellent support and service for our parishes and our people,” the bishop wrote in his pastoral letter. “I particularly ask your prayers for all our diocesan staff in the days and weeks ahead, as we adjust to this new and different way of working together.”
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