As a former parishioner of Visitation Parish in Bay City and as a Bishop in the National Catholic Church of North America, Inc. ordained in 1965 for the Diocese of Marquette in upper Michigan, I can understand the problems in closing long standing parishes. For many of those parishes, it is simply a matter of dollars and cents. For members still in good standing who support those parishes,I can understand their feelings about closures. I might suggest a motto for the diocese: "IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR PARISH OPEN, REMEMBER YOUR PARISH IN YOUR WILL." Many other Chritian Churches survive on what was left to them by long-standing now deceased parishioners.

+Terry G. Villaire