"The archdiocese claims 550,000 Catholics over a three-county region which includes the cities and towns of Hartford, New Britain, Waterbury, Meriden and New Haven. Those cities will be hardest hit by the consolidations, as Catholic populations gravitated to the suburbs over the past few decades.

Archbishop Leonard Blair said the changes are necessary and "we cannot responsibly kick the can down the road." He noted that since 1969, the number of Catholics in the archdiocese has declined by 69 percent and the number of priests by 65 percent."

My home parish is one of the 6 in Waterbury which will be merged into one parish with 2 worship sites. Here's the facts-- people simply aren't going to mass. Families have largely treated mass/the Church as a sort of extracurricular activity, and as a result, these churches by and large remain empty on Sundays.

This is a hard but necessary move by Hartford, in my opinion. Doesn't take away the hurt people feel, but perhaps it provides context.