Archbishop Thomas Zinkula of Dubuque, Iowa, announced this month that his archdiocese will be restructured from its current 160 parishes into 24 groups that will share leadership and resources.
Archbishop Zinkula wrote in an April 11 letter that the restructuring was the result of the “Journey of Faith” process, a year of prayer, discernment, and dialogue regarding the future of the archdiocese.
“Like many dioceses across the country, we are facing sobering realities,” he said. “The number of faithful attending Mass has declined by 46% in 20 years and the number of priests available for ministry has been decreasing. The need for Evangelization, Leadership Formation, and Pastoral Planning is evident.”
Through “Journey in Faith,” the archdiocese developed a plan to provide diocesan communities with better evangelization, leadership formation, and pastoral planning.
He then explained the details of the new restructuring plan, saying that the archdiocese will be organized into 24 pastorates.
“A pastorate is a group of parishes that will work together more closely, sharing pastoral leadership, ministries, and resources in order to strengthen the mission of the Church in their communities,” he wrote. “Each pastorate has been assigned a pastor and a parochial vicar or vicars. The weekend Mass locations for each pastorate have been determined as well.”
He encouraged the faithful to “continue walking this journey with me — and with one another — with courage and trust” and urged them to pray for their priests, one another, and the archbishop himself.
According to the FAQ page for the “Journey of Faith,” 84 of the current 160 parishes will be used for Sunday Masses. The other parishes will still be used for weekday worship, faith formation, adoration, service to the community, weddings, and funerals, according to the website.
The website states that the new Mass schedules will go into effect this summer.