Charleston, S.C., Jul 6, 2017 / 05:11 am
Church growth and expansion was the topic when leading bishops of the Catholic Church's Atlanta province met recently in South Carolina.
"We are all in a growth mode. That's a good thing," Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta told the Diocese of Charleston's newspaper The Catholic Miscellany.
"We are spending part of our time here talking about the need to establish new parishes, expand pastoral outreach, and respond to growing numbers both from immigration and those moving here from other parts of the country," the archbishop continued. "We all are sharing in this growth."
The growth in part reflects the number of Catholics moving south from northern dioceses. Though this results in the closures of churches and schools in former Catholic strongholds, it is driving new expansion in the U.S. South.