The lack of priests leaves eleven parishes of Chantada without masses - Chantada, Lugo, Galicia, España - News Article Locations on Waymarking.com

The new church of Chantada will from now on be the place where the parishioners of eleven parishes in this municipality will have to go to mass on Sundays. Their respective churches will only open when they celebrate their parish holidays or some traditional religious activity. The decision is supported by the plan approved in its day by the diocese of Lugo to deal with the lack of priests. The first joint Masses will be celebrated on All Saints 'and All Souls' days and on the first Sunday in November.

"It is not about suppressing parishes, it is about unifying activities such as cults or training around the main dunha igrexa that process comes from behind," explains Manuel Areán, the priest who has had to apply this measure. Areán has been the parish priest of a dozen parishes in Chantada for a couple of years, including Santa Mariña, which has its headquarters in the new church in the municipal capital. The recent death of one of the priests who officiated masses in the area has forced him to make a decision in line with what the bishopric of Lugo has already planned for a long time with the so-called pastoral units, groupings of parishes around a larger for the organization of the cult.

Until now, the diocese of Lugo had been avoiding in the southern half of the province the progressive reduction of the census of priests with periodic reorganizations that invariably were awarding more and more parishes to the youngest, who have to make bobbin lace to attend all his pastoral activity. But in some areas this practice no longer gives more of itself and in that case it only remains to resort to the organization of pastoral units.

At that point, the priests make an effort to explain it to the faithful with two different arguments. The first appeals to arithmetic: it is impossible to keep all the parishes as active as before with the number of priests there are now. The second looks for the good side to these changes, which allow to strengthen the parish in which the activity is centralized.

In the case of Chantada, Areán insists that the parish churches are not closed. They just won't open for Sunday Masses anymore. In return, the parish priest intends to promote the parish festivals and religious traditions that still remain. He gives as an example the rise and fall of the image of the Virgin that is made every year in Pesqueiras, one of the affected parishes, and that they are going to try to revitalize.

In parallel, this parish priest is trying to strengthen the parish to which all the parishioners will have to go when they want to go to mass. The church already has a renovated heating system and a choir made up of the faithful who will sing at funerals and anniversary masses is in the formation phase.

diocese of lugo

Territory and coverage

Lugo is the Spanish diocese with the most parishes. They are 1,138. According to data from 2014, there were just over 230 priests to attend to them. And his average age was around 73 years

The first, in Lugo seven years ago
The first parish unit of this diocese was launched in 2011 in the municipality of Lugo with the parishes of Sagrado Corazón, As Gándaras, Castelo, Muxa and Benade. Since then, others have arrived, the closest to the south of Lugo, which has its headquarters in Sarria and brings together seventeen parishes in that municipality and those of O Incio and Paradela. Near the Chantada region, one of the last groupings was approved by the Bishopric last year in Palas de Rei, where 45 parishes were organized into five pastoral units.

Type of publication: Newspaper When was the article reported?: 10/25/2018 Publication: la Voz de Galicia Article Url: [Web Link] Is Registration Required?: no How widespread was the article reported?: regional News Category: Editorial

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