Painful Question: Why do so many Catholic parishes die?

[trotsky]

https://www.stardem.com/life/painful-question-why-do-so-many-catholic-parishes-die/article_c8f90975-927a-5d1b-916f-b9ecbad914c2.html

The headlines keep appearing in Catholic newspapers before the news migrates into the real-estate coverage in mainstream media.

The bottom line is the bottom line. Catholic shepherds decide that they have to pull the plug and close parishes in which declining and aging flocks of believers have struggled to pay their bills. These aging sanctuaries are often located on valuable pieces of urban real estate.

Some parishes vanish. Others are merged into one facility to make efficient use of space, as well as the crowded schedules of a steadily declining number of priests.

...What changed? Asking that question — especially in an era of scandal and pain — leads to doctrinal questions that are just as troubling as the hellish puzzles linked to decades of reports about sexual abuse among Catholic clergy.