“Where should we draw the line?” How about where Mason and Dixon drew it! In many cases, places where people are leaving the churches empty are places where people are leaving period. This makes sense: the liberal ideology that destroys cities is the same liberal ideology that destroys dioceses.
“Come out from among ‘em” to the South, where people have jobs and kids and trucks, and the churches are packed. Ours was put under observation by the fire department when the alarm went off during Mass one day, and the captain saw how full the place was. Now we have fire lanes marked off with tape on the floors, as well no-exception-you’ll-be-towed lanes in the parking lot.
>>In many cases, places where people are leaving the churches empty are places where people are leaving period. <<
Exactly! People are crying in Detroit because they are closing and clustering parishes.
I keep trying to tell them, the entire state should be either closed or clustered.
The suburban churches where I live are always full. However, the churches in the downtown area of the city where I grew up are having trouble with attendance because the parishes where they are located don’t have many people living there anymore. Some churches have closed or merged with other parish churches. I believe it has a lot to do with the location of the churches.