CHICAGO — The Archdiocese of Chicago may be closing some city parishes "in the near future," according to a report by NBC5.
Some 600 priests met with Archibishop Blase Cupich on Tuesday where the possibility was discussed, NBC5's Mary Ann Ahern reported.
The report cited an internal assessment on what was described as the "changing landscape of the church in Chicago."
A spokesman for the archdiocese said that the church was studying "population patterns, ethnicity shifts, Catholicity shifts as well as a decline in Mass attendance [that] have affected many of the parishes."
The spokesman would not confirm parish closings.
According to a snapshot of the archdiocese, the total overall population living in the city has steadily dropped about 1 million between 1950 and 2010. (However, the latest Census figures show about 2.7 million in the city in 2014, up nearly 100,000 since 2010.)
In all, the archdiocese, which covers Cook and Lake Counties, has 356 parishes, down from 455 in 1975. The number of registered families in the entire archdiocese in 2013 was 482,000, down from 558,000 families in 2000, the archdiocese said in its snapshot.
In 2013, parish revenues was $341.8 million against expenses of $346.5 million, for a $4.7 million loss.
Church officials are consolidating some schools on the Northwest Side to address enrollment declines there.
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