The Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa, is working toward a major restructuring in 2027, which would include the consolidation of 161 parishes into about 28 ‘pastorates’’ — ending weekend Masses at 83 churches.
Some Catholic Iowans are objecting to the plan.
“We are real people, we matter,” Mark Tillman, a parishioner at one of the churches that might lose weekend Masses, said, according to KWWL, an NBC affiliate that serves eastern Iowa. “Our parishes matter. The people we serve in the communities matter, and these draconian cuts to the rural parishes will be morally and spiritually devastating to our parishes, and our communities will suffer.”
Some critics of the plan say that it has been developed too quickly and that most of the parishes slated to lose weekend Masses are in sound financial positions. According to KWWL, an NBC affiliate that serves eastern Iowa, only 14% of parishes in the archdiocese have any debt, and only 2% have more debt than cash assets, according to an emailed press release from Save 83 Parishes, a group that opposes the plan.
“Our church is financially stable,” Tillman said. “The parishes around us are financially stable.”
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