John Madigan: A Diocese at a Crossroads

A story from Ontario, Canada

“We have to get moving”!

That was the message Bishop Michael Brehl CSsR heard repeatedly when he arrived in the Diocese of Pembroke in August 2024. Priests, religious, and laypeople alike knew that their diocese was facing some difficult decisions.An aging clergy, declining Mass attendance, fewer volunteers, and mounting financial pressures were making it increasingly difficult to sustain the traditional parish structure. The question was no longer whether change was necessary, but what kind of Church would emerge from it.

Serving approximately 60,000 Catholics, the diocese covers a mostly rural region of approximately 52,000 square kilometres. What the city folks call “cottage country”, the territory is characterized by forests, numerous lakes and rivers, agricultural lands, and small towns and rural communities surrounding Algonquin Provincial Park and spread throughout the Ottawa Valley, northeastern Ontario and a portion of western Quebec. While Bishop Brehl felt warmly received, he could sense a real concern among the people about meeting the immediate challenges of the present and of the future.

A serious shortage of priests was the most immediate pressure facing the diocese. In November of 2026 there were only 21 priests – 13 of whom were incardinated, i.e. from the diocese – to serve the 55 parishes. Most of the priests have two or three, and sometimes four parishes under their care. This makes it very difficult to maintain the existing number of Sunday Masses, provide sacramental ministry, visit the sick, conduct funerals, and oversee parish administration. Many of the priests are at, or close to, retirement age and there are only two diocesan seminarians preparing for the priesthood. Even with the help of a few permanent deacons and lay people, this arrangement cannot be maintained.

As long-serving parishioners grow older they cannot carry on the responsibilities for church activities, fundraising, catechesis and administration. As these volunteers age, there are fewer people to replace them. Younger people tend to leave rural communities for education or for employment, while secularization and the continuing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have contributed to declining Mass attendance which in Canada, according to national research analysis, hovers around eleven percent of those who identify as Catholic on the national census.

Yet, there are some positive signs such as newcomers to the area. Also, returning Catholics and young families are bringing fresh energy to certain communities. Some parishes already share staff, bulletins, sacramental preparation and other services. Digital communication, livestreamed liturgies, and online outreach offer ways to maintain connection across geographically dispersed communities. Some of the parishes have sufficient income, investments or bequests.

However, the financial situation varies from parish to parish.Approximately two-thirds of parishes are reported to have structural deficits, some have debts exceeding $100,000 while demands such as roofs, heating systems, accessibility improvements, insurance, staff costs, and the maintenance of church halls, rectories, and other properties place considerable demands on diocesan resources.

While the diocese must make financially responsible decisions, churches are not simply buildings. They represent generations of family history, community identity, religious traditions and cultural heritage. The significance of the church to a community extends far beyond its physical structure. Many of the churches are works of art, built by the ancestors with basic tools. One can sit in any one of them and admire the intricate handiwork of the altar, arches and pillars. Elderly parishioners will tell you how they were baptized in this church, received their first sacraments here, were married, baptized their children, and buried their parents here. These memories and the importance of the historical, cultural, and spiritual significance of the church to the community will need to be weighed against the financial realities.

In the past, attempts had been made to address the situation but from the foundation of the diocese in the 1890’s to the 1990’s there had been five bishops while just in the last 30 years, there have been five different bishops. Some have begun initiatives to deal with the challenges, but then they have been reassigned and the new bishop had to begin again. In his pastoral letter of January 2025, Bishop Brehl outlined a five-year pastoral planning process. This time the initiative is different. It is a longer-term commitment: a five-year planning process to provide continuity beyond the tenure of an individual bishop. It involves the broader participation of priests and lay people examining parish realities and considering the future and, importantly, it shows a willingness to acknowledge uncertainty, and the assurance that decisions have not already been made. The future will be discerned collectively.

The Council of Priests was asked to prepare, in consultation with parishioners, profiles of each priest’s parish or cluster of parishes. A diocesan Steering Committee of 10 lay men and women and 5 priests was established to review the profiles, draw out common elements, compile data such as the financial situation, church attendance, seating capacity, and other relevant information about each parish and the diocese as a whole. The Bishop and the Steering Committee shared all of this at regional meetings held in each of the five deaneries, by pastoral letters, and by posting information on the diocesan website..

Parishes and clusters of parishes were asked to pray together for guidance in the process. In addition, all were encouraged to review their parish profile report.

In the near future, deanery meetings are plannedwhich will include active priests and three designated persons from every parish and mission to discern and prepare a draft of concrete decisions for the Diocesan Pastoral Plan.

The next five years could prove to be a defining period in the history of the diocese, an important time of reform and renewal. Synodality is the means by which questions and issues will be faithfully addressed. The ultimate question is not simply how many churches can be maintained, how many priests are available or how much money is in parish accounts. The question for the people of the Pembroke diocese is what kind of Church do they want to become.