The November 9, 2024, issue of The Tablet includes on page 8 a news story by Bill Miller, senior reporter, titled Diocese Engages Parishioners in Dialogue over Potential Mergers. I list only the proposed mergers in the borough of Brooklyn.
1) Mary Queen of Heaven in Flatlands and St. Bernard of Clairvaux in Bergen Beach, 1 mile apart. St. Bernard attendance Nov. 3 is 980.
2) St. Brendan in Midwood and St. Edmund in Sheepshead Bay, 1.3 miles apart. Long blocks caused BMT trolleys to be geared for higher speeds on Ocean Avenue. Now Bus B49.
3) St. Bernadette in Dyker Heights and St. Frances Cabrini in Bensonhurst, 0.6 mile apart. At a brief glance, St. Bernadette appears to be the more attended of the two. Also, St. Bernardette has a school with a teaching staff pre-k to 8th grade of about 25.
4) In Sunset Park, St. Michael and St Agatha, 0.9 mile apart. Each parish has a full schedule of Masses, St. Michael in English and Spanish, St. Agatha in Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese?), Spanish, and English).
5) In Bay Ridge, St. Anselm and Our Lady of Angels, 0.7 mile apart.
6) Already accomplished, in Park Slope, St. Augustine and St. Francis Xavier, 0.3 mile apart. Please see the website of the merged parishes https://sasfx.org/
At St. Augustine, the only Mass each week is noon on Sunday. At St. Francis Xavier, there is a 9 a.m. Mass Monday to Thursday, 5 p.m. on Saturday, 9:30 a. m. on Sunday.
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In 2020, the average Mass attendance in the diocese was 124,031, of 1.5 million identified as Catholic. That is 8%.
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The distances given above are church-to-church, but some parishioners may live on the far fringe.
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