Detroit: retired bishop blasts proposed church closings
December 02, 2011
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, who served as auxiliary bishop of Detroit from 1968 to 2006, has blasted a proposal, developed by a lay-led panel, to close 48 parishes. Archbishop Allen Vigneron said at a December 1 press conference that he would likely implement the proposed closings in February.
“As a Catholic church, we're almost moving outside the city, away from the city of Detroit when at one time we literally had hundreds of Catholic schools,” said Bishop Gumbleton. “The Catholic Church has a mission, and that mission should include the whole of Detroit.”
“The institutional presence of the Catholic Church is going to be gone from the city of Detroit in any way.”
Bishop Gumbleton, who retired in 2006 only after protesting that he wished to remain an active member of the hierarchy, has a long history of involvement with leftist causes.
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Further information:
- Catholic church closures fuel angst (Detroit News)
- Detroit-area Catholics blast plans for closings (Detroit Free Press)
- 48 Detroit parishes may close, including famed Assumption Grotto (CWN, 12/1)
- When bishops denounce bishops: the limits of episcopal courtesy (On the News, 7/26/10)
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Posted by: lauriem5377 -
Dec. 02, 2011 8:03 PM ET USA
It doesn't seem 'leftist' to want to keep churches open in Detroit for worship/people there have lost so so many things/now they are losing their churches also. What is being done for these souls? Where is the evangelization to help fill these empty churches? Pope Bendict is so right with his constant focus on evangilization!
