The archdiocese’s strategic planning process, called Partners in the Gospel, is “a plan for how we embrace these realities with hope and confidence,” the archbishop said.
Under the planning process, most parishes will combine into a “new family structure.” Two or more parishes will become a single canonical parish under the leadership of one pastor and one or more parochial vicars. The pastor, parish leaders, and parishioners will then determine questions such as how to share resources, staff, ministries, outreach efforts, and facilities.
The Seattle Archdiocese has fewer resources, including priests, lay leaders, and financial assets. There are 80 diocesan pastors for 174 locations, but it predicts it will have only 66 pastors in 2036.
“We need to adapt to times,” said Jesús Gómez Sánchez, a member of the archdiocesan pastoral council. “The worst we could do is remain not doing anything about it and just seeing the numbers in our Church decrease.”
The archdiocese’s 2021 annual report said it had about 600,000 Catholics in its territory. There were about 182 diocesan priests, including 81 retirees, 118 permanent deacons, 17 religious brothers, and 292 religious sisters. That year there were almost 3,200 infant baptisms, 4,700 confirmations, and 849 total marriages.
Caitlin Moulding, chief operations officer for the Archdiocese of Seattle, said the situation of Catholicism in the region has changed.
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