Free Republic

CAMDEN Citing a declining number of priests available for ministry, Bishop Joseph A. Galante said a reduction in the number of parishes that serve more than 500,000 people in the six-county Camden Diocese is inevitable. In 10 years, half of the 172 priests in the area could be retired, Galante said. This coupled with population shifts has created a financial burden and "compromised" the ability of certain perishes to meet the demands of the future, Galante said. "We, like most Northeast dioceses, have churches and facilities that were established decades ago in areas where the Catholic population is substantially diminished,"...

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — The incoming leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden has decided that Gov. James E. McGreevey cannot receive communion. The Most Rev. Joseph Galante said Thursday that he was taking the stance primarily because the divorced governor, who is Catholic, remarried without receiving a church annulment. He also cited McGreevey's support of abortion rights, stem-cell research and other positions which contradict church views. Galante, who was to be installed Friday during a Mass at St. Agnes Church in Blackwood, said he felt duty bound to take a hard line stance on the issue. He said...

Showdown in Dallas An open conflict between two bishops has helped to expose deeper problems in a troubled diocese. By Rod Dreher Jul. 02 (CWR) - Dallas: There is no question that this Texas city will figure prominently when historians write the story of the current Church sex scandal. Will it be as the place where the US bishops first attempted to deal together with the worst crisis in American Catholic history? Or will it be where a discredited and unpopular bishop set a new standard in grasping for power as his diocese continued a long slide under his leadership?...