Late in her life, the Vermont historian Abby Maria Hemenway recalled that, while she was a young girl in the early 1840s, she had a vision of Our Lady in a field behind her house in Ludlow. Not a common occurrence for a Yankee Baptist girl, you might think. But in fact such visions were not unknown at the time. Still very much a frontier territory, Vermont was far removed from (...)
Short Take
Catholic Vermont
A Short & Unfinished History
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The diocese of Vermont sounds a lot like eastern Kentucky where Catholics are still a minority and where the culture wars wage in a "red state". Thank God for those few intelligent and honest priests like the one you mention at the end of your article. Often they are the reason many us remain active in the church even in the face of depressing news and self induced injury.
Perhaps the most telling part of the article is the 'downsizing' of the numbers of clergy from 240 to now only 80. The loss of religious sisters and brothers is probably at least similarly precipitous. Replacing native born priests with those from foreign lands is not a winning strategy. Restaffing our educational, hospital and charitable institutions after the loss of so many religious is a substantive challenge. And thus, we have seriously diminished the contact between a rising population of laity and seriously decreased population of clerical and religious influence and leadership. Next, of course, is closing parishes, combining parishes, closing schools and other institutions and in general neglecting further the young and restless. Check your sacramental records and note the steep decline in marriages, baptisms, confirmations and actual mass attendance. It is time for a major restructuring, a major change in leadership objectives, a major shift in energy and approach. Otherwise, watch for a slow and painful death.