Closing Parishes: it's Seattle's turn.

A photo is worth...?

Below is a photo of two parishioners at a parish church of the Archdiocese of Seattle scheduled to be shut.

Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times

Look closer.

Square and Compasses
Masonic symbol

HG 31: "As Our predecessors have many times repeated, let no man think that he may for any reason whatsoever join the Masonic sect, if he values his Catholic name and his eternal salvation as he ought to value them." - Humanum genus, papal encyclical promulgated on 20 April 1884 by Pope Leo XIII.

It would seem obvious to anyone with their eyes open for the past 50 years that a contributing factor as to why parishes are dying or dead, and are being closed, is that complacency and ideologies incompatible with the Gospel have taken root. Corroborating evidence?

• too many Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence
• too many Catholics hold anti-life beliefs
• too many Catholics reject Church teaching on marriage and sexuality

Instead of bastions of orthodoxy to combat destructive societal pathogens, too many parishes are little more than social clubs with a religious veneer. The Holy Eucharist, at least the 2002 Missale Romanum (Editio typica tertia) - the "source and summit of the Christian life" (CCC 1324) - is flattened into something barely distinguishable from a TV dinner.

During covidtide, a multitude of online Masses have been broadcast from rural and urban parishes. Listening to most homilies was an exercise in trying not to choke on the ridiculous, limp and, in too many cases, loose play with Holy Scripture. For example, how many times have we heard the miracle of the loaves and fishes reduced to a nice act of sharing (St. Matthew 14:13-21; St. Mark 6:31-44; St. Luke 9:12-17; St. John 6:1-14)? One can only imagine the schlock people are exposed to during in-person liturgies when pastors are not exposed to the hear-all-see-all eyes and ears of the internet.

Parishioners are routinely being fed a buffet of psychobabble and universalist drivel. That many diocesan parishes are unsustainable should come as no surprise given that parishioners are malnourished and, in worst case scenarios, souls are disfigured by heterodoxy. A steady diet of me-myself-and-I ego stroking froth preached in parish churches designed or wreakovated to look like shopping malls does little to invite people into a theological rich experience and authentic relationship with God. Effective adult catechesis in diocesan circles is practically nonexistent. Children are especially vulnerable. Without being able to rely upon parents to adequately form them in the Faith, the young are tossed into the societal swimming pool populated by bloodthirsty creatures who prey on the innocent and devour hope.

How's That Working For Ya?

Liza Neal, a leader in St. Patrick’s social-justice ministry, said she feels the Archdiocese is targeting the Capitol Hill parish because it is viewed as too progressive. - The Seattle Times (TST)

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-archdiocese-plan-to-close-churches-stirs-sadness-anger-and-resistance/#comments

Well, if Neal's parish is due to close, perhaps its progressiveness has made it unsustainable and closing the parish puts it out of its misery. In most cases, progressive equates to aged hippies hosting a religious social club that gathers to celebrate every cancerous ideology or spiritual pablum. Those patrons are - not to put it too bluntly - dying off. The deceased cannot support a parish, at least not financially.

And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. - The Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke 9: 59-62

It is upsetting when a parish closes. People have invested their lives and resources in their communities. However, Catholics are not congregationalists.

“Why can’t we just say: ‘We’re not closing, deal with it,’ ” one parishioner asked (Deacon Dennis) Kelly.

“I appreciate that sentiment,” said the deacon, who nonetheless added that the Archdiocese owns the buildings. “They can come in here and change the locks.”

If Seattle is anything like other "progressive" dioceses, diocesan Catholics are not returning to Mass as pandemic restrictions are being lifted, adding further to financial instability. Visit most diocesan parishes and see the empty pews for yourself. By comparison, Latin Mass (1962 Missal) attendees are flocking back in confident numbers, this despite Pope Francis' threatening motu proprio. At one multi-form parish on Vancouver Island, BC, the Latin Mass community outnumbers attendance at the Ordinary Form Mass by nearly a three-to-one margin. The parking lot is overflowing for the TLM. There are plenty of spots in the lot for the Ordinary Form Mass.

Mass attendance in the Archdiocese (of Seattle) fell 15.5% between 1999 and 2018, to about 126,000, though the general population boomed. Catholic baptisms and marriages plummeted even more, by 21.5% and almost 46% respectively.

At Our Lady of Mount Virgin, a spike brought weekend Mass attendance up to 480 seven years ago, but it dropped to around 360, pre-pandemic. Parish income [...] declined by about a third in just five years. - TST Aug. 7, 2021

Empty pews; empty coffers. Empty coffers, good-bye parish.