"40% of Brooklyn parishes can’t meet expenses"

A poster in the combox quite rightly posits,

Maybe there are too many parishes in the diocese. I wonder if they ever thought of that?

You have some neighborhoods in Brooklyn that have more than one church. The days of the ethnic parish are pretty much over [SHOULD be...] in most parts of the city a...no bishop wants to be known as the guy that closes up churches but he can always create an office for some priest wanting the title of monsignor to be the 'hatchet man'

This struck a cord, as it is very much the case in my own area, (except I don't think a hatchet man has been assigned -- instead, they're just waiting for pastors to drop dead of overwork.)

The continuing parochialism, (yes, in the pejorative sense,) of so many American Catholics is a problem, as are bishops who have an obligation and won't fulfill it.

Fill your boots, Your Excellencies!
Pull up your big bishop pants and make the hard choices.