Boston, Mass., Nov 9, 2022 / 10:30 am
Diocese of Steubenville Bishop Jeffrey Monforton announced Monday that a proposed merger with the Diocese of Columbus will be put on hold.
Announced in early October citing several demographic and vocational concerns, the proposed merger between the two dioceses brought a host of negative feedback and disappointment from many within the diocese. Monforton’s announcement comes about a week before the U.S. bishops’ conference planned to vote on the merger at its annual meeting in Baltimore.
“Since the October 10th announcement of a proposed merger between the Diocese of Steubenville and the Diocese of Columbus, many have voiced their counsel, including disappointment and even fear,” Monforton wrote in his Nov. 7 letter to the diocese.
As part of his original October announcement on the merger, Monforton said that a survey was being prepared for the faithful on how to move forward. In his new announcement, he said that the survey’s results provided “further evidence of a division in the future vision for the Church’s service in the Ohio Valley.