By Lucas Knowles

Staff Writer



Catholic churches in Scarborough, Cape Elizabeth and South Portland
will be going through a change in the next few years that reflects both
a statewide and national trend.



Last week, Bishop Richard Malone of the Roman Catholic Diocese of
Portland announced that he approved the plan for reorganization of the
parishes in “cluster 22” – St. Maximilian Kolbe in Scarborough, St.
Bartholomew in Cape Elizabeth and St. John the Evangelist and Holy
Cross in South Portland.



The reorganization plan for the parishes follows a model that includes
one pastor, separate parishes, one staff, one Pastoral Council and one
Finance Council. Currently, two pastors serve the churches and every
parish has its own council.



Every “cluster” of Catholic churches in Maine had to submit a
reorganization plan to Bishop Malone by June of this year. The movement
to consolidate represents a national trend that many call “new
evangelism” – where Catholic churches have had to regionalize and
consolidate their services.



Sue Bernard, the communications director for the Roman Catholic Diocese
of Portland, said the reorganization process of Catholic parishes in
Maine began in the mid 1990s, when she said it was becoming clear that
the number of men entering the priesthood was decreasing and
demographics were changing.



“At that point, the Diocese thought it would make sense to have a
long-term plan,” Bernard said. “The number of men being ordained was
not keeping up with the number of men who were retiring from the
priesthood and the demographics around the state had changed
dramatically…we needed to find out whether what we had for facilities
matched what our needs were.”



Bishop Joseph Gerry, who served as the head of the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Portland before Bishop Malone, had the organization compile
a document called “Vision 2000” to begin to chart its future. Bernard
said Bishop Malone then “took that document and took the next step with
it” by organizing a committee to put together an action plan. In March
2005, that committee concluded that Catholic churches in Maine needed
to be organized into 28 “clusters.” Each cluster then had to examine
its needs and report back to the Diocese with a plan.



In his response to the proposal by the parishes in Scarborough, Cape
Elizabeth and South Portland, Bishop Malone outlined issues that he
said needed to be addressed, including decreasing the number of weekend
Masses from ten to eight and suggesting that two separate and distinct
parishes remain in South Portland.



The future of St. Jude parish in Pine Point will be investgated due to the small number of people who attend in the summer.



Father Michael Gendreau, the pastor for St. John the Evangelist and
Holy Cross, said the plan put forth by local parishes does reflect that
the Catholic church is trying to respond to the changing times.



“This process has given us the chance to ask, ‘how do we continue to
care for one another and how do we spread the Gospel in a way that is
effective?’” Gendreau said.



Gendreau said the first meeting of the combined Pastoral Council for
all four parishes is being planned for next month. He said the changes
will begin to take place locally within the next few years.



Gendreau shares duties in the local cluster with Monsignor Michael
Henchal, who serves as the pastor for St. Maximilian Kolbe and St.
Bartholomew.



Bishop Malone has asked the “clusters” to implement their plans of action by 2010.