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Archdiocese of Detroit will close some churches as it restructures amid falling attendance

By Jack Nissen
Published  November 17, 2025 12:14pm EST
Religion
FOX 2 Detroit
article

The Archdiocese of Detroit. 

The Brief

    • The Archdiocese of Detroit is condensing its churches and parishes as it adapts to a shrinking membership.
    • Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger said the church is "stretched too thinly to serve as well as we want" and will embark on a 2-year restructure.
    • Membership to the organization is near 900,000, down from 1.5 million.

(FOX 2) - The Archdiocese of Detroit is asking Catholics to provide feedback to the chapter as it embarks on a two-year restructuring of the area's parishes and ministries.

With membership down by hundreds of thousands, Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger says the church is "stretched too thinly to serve as well as we want" and is inviting those that attend to help carve "the best path forward."

Big picture view:

In a letter posted on the church's website this weekend, Weisenburger said the time to adapt to the changing climate of declining attendance is now. 

Once numbering over 1.5 million Catholics in Southeast Michigan, the current Catholic census is now closer to 900,000. However, even as attendance has fallen, the number of buildings in use has not.

They were built at a time of growth for the church. But over the past 50 years, maintaining buildings, ministries, and structures has become a challenge due to too few people attending. 

"This is why I am inviting every Catholic in our Archdiocese to join me in a serious two-year process of Archdiocesan restructuring. It will be a journey of discernment that I believe we can accomplish only together," Weisenburger said.

Dig deeper:

The two-year process will include figuring out which buildings to close, which to merge, and which to keep. The Archdiocese said every parish and community will be affected by the change.  

"It is important to be honest about what this restructuring may bring. We know that we cannot maintain the same number of parish buildings that we have today," Weisenburger wrote on the Archdiocese website.

The "right-size" of the church will take place with three pillars in mind: Keeping parishes vibrant, ensuring priests are flourishing, and realigning the clergy to be mission ready.

What you can do:

Listening sessions will take place at each parish in the spring of 2026. 

In addition to having special prayer cards available, input can also be provided at restructuring.aod.org.

The Source: A letter posted by the Archbishop was cited for this story. 

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