July 12 marked the final Sunday Mass at 76 parishes in the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa, as the archdiocese entered a new phase of restructuring in response to declining Mass attendance and a shortage of priests.
The restructuring, known as Journey in Faith, will see the archdiocese’s 160 parishes consolidated into 24 pastorates. Each pastorate is a group of parishes under the care of one pastor and will eventually become a single parish, according to the archdiocese’s website.
In a video message to the archdiocese, which covers 30 counties in north-east Iowa, Archbishop Thomas Zinkula acknowledged that the changes “can be painful”.
