Op-Ed author Nicholas O’Connell apparently has a bone to select with Archbishop Paul Etienne “Parish consolidation is a failure for Seattle Archdiocese management” [Nov. 9, Opinion], claiming that he’s “out of contact with and distrustful of the laity.” However the motive for parish consolidation has little or nothing to do with the archbishop’s assist (or not) for elevated lay participation in church management.
The actual fact is that the Archdiocese of Seattle, just like the Church in a lot of the Northern Hemisphere, is going through a rising, certainly essential, scarcity of clergymen. And whereas O’Connell suggests an elevated position for the laity, particularly ladies, as an answer, it’s clear that with out ordained clergymen to have fun the Mass and the sacraments, all doable lay authorities is not going to overcome the necessity for parish consolidation. Governance just isn’t the issue; name is
David W. Madsen, Seattle
