Parishioners should decide fate of Baltimore churches | READER COMMENTARY

One of the fundamental problems of the Catholic Church is its top-down approach. While this is essential in areas of doctrine, it certainly is not when it comes to the question of whether a parish should remain open or be closed (“‘Leave churches open, close the archdiocese’: Baltimore Catholics react to merger plans,” April 29).

Baltimore’s archbishop should apply the “e-tub” principle and let “each tub float on its own bottom.” If a parish cannot afford to remain open, the parishioners will come to that conclusion and will determine with what parish they should align.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore should focus its attention on evangelization — bringing Christ’s message to the people. It should be training dynamic priests and bringing outside priests who can conduct regular missions, rather than thinking it can “manage” the decline. It can’t. The only thing it can do is pray and evangelize.

— Joel Whitaker, Silver Spring

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