Archbishop Nelson Pérez issued a pastoral letter on Jan. 5 that presented his vision for revitalizing the Catholic Church of Philadelphia and inviting everyone to be part of that process. He expressed urgency for drawing back the 83% of baptized Catholics in the region who no longer attend Mass regularly.
He also wrote of his plan to offer pastoral ministry more effectively through an innovation known as “Missionary Hubs.” The initiative aims to equip existing parishes and ministries with missionaries and other resources such as social media tools to help build a culture of missionary discipleship in which Catholics reach out to those not practicing and all the people in their communities.
In his letter, Archbishop Pérez is inviting everyone to engage in conversations about the future path of the Church of Philadelphia at sessions scheduled to begin in early February.
These sessions, facilitated by Catholic Leadership Institute and the archdiocesan Strategy Office, will take place at parishes, high schools, and other locations across the five-county Archdiocese. All are invited to take part and register for an upcoming session.
The sessions will provide more details about these plans and have an opportunity for conversation and questions. The sessions will also invite participants to think about how the Missionary Hubs can reach out uniquely in their neighborhoods.
“Your voices and presence are essential as we navigate our way forward together as the Church of Philadelphia,” Archbishop Pérez wrote.
These conversations emphasize the importance of collaboration and discernment among the faithful in the Archdiocese. Following Pope Francis’ example of reinforcing to the Universal Church the value of synodality, which means journeying together as the people of God, the goal is to help the Church evangelize more effectively through inclusive participation by her members.
The Archbishop’s letter described his intention to re-envision Church life by planting Missionary Hubs across the Archdiocese “to reach out to Catholics who don’t participate and non-Catholics, using our resources and talents to ignite a spirit of Missionary Discipleship.”
Over the next decade, the Archbishop wants to establish at least 10 Missionary Hubs in each of the region’s five counties. These hubs will be set up at parish campuses and other locations.
“This will create a supportive network of missionary life across the whole Archdiocese, animating our communities everywhere, especially in underserved areas,” Archbishop Pérez said. “Missionary Hubs would help to support parish life, reopen in our Church deserts, and inspire our people to be Missionary Disciples.”
The Missionary Hubs will have full-time staff working under a pastor committed to outward engagement. The staff may include service coordinators, communications experts, event specialists and missionaries all focused on facilitating an encounter with Christ and his Church.
The goal, the Archbishop said, is to close the gap between the Church and those who have fallen away from the faith.
“I want people to know that the Lord is still calling them, that they are of great worth, have a divine purpose, and an eternal home,” Archbishop Pérez said.
“We need to plan for these Missionary Hubs in a spirit of synodal discernment and collaboration,” he wrote in the letter. “I want communities and leaders to express interest in having a Missionary Hub planted at their parish. The seeds planted today will be the evangelical fruit of tomorrow.”
Brian McCarthy, chief strategy officer in the archdiocesan Strategy Office, emphasized that the hubs will help the Church of Philadelphia “to be active, missionary, open, and outward facing.”
“This action plan isn’t something that the Archdiocese does, or the priest does,” McCarthy said. “It’s actually an engagement with the laity to be formed as missionary disciples to go out and share the good news with everyone they know through their baptism.”
Archbishop Pérez explained in his letter that the Missionary Hubs will fulfill several roles:
- They will turn the Church outward, focusing on those not currently engaged in the life of the Church and working to reconnect them. Community provides a connection point that many crave in today’s world.
- They will connect various Catholic ministries within a community — high schools, elementary schools, Catholic Human Services, religious communities, and parishes — ensuring that we work together and maximize the use of our resources where they will have the most impact.
- They will work to bring people to Jesus — through the Eucharist and through service to the poor. Some of our brothers and sisters may not be ready to return to Mass immediately but could encounter Jesus through acts of service, a steppingstone to returning to church. As Jesus exhorts his disciples, “whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will find it” (Mark 8:35).
- If and when parishes need to adapt, change, or close, the hubs will be a local community with resources and talent prepared and formed to welcome and care for new people.
The initial release of the pastoral letter and the launch of the website TrustAndHope.org last week showed positive engagement among Catholics who visited the site to read the Archbishop’s letter, view his video message, register for an upcoming information session or review materials in FAQ format.
According to an analytics report, the TrustAndHope.org website had more than 10,600 page views from more than 7,000 visitors during the first week after the pastoral letter was released. Most website visitors came from Facebook and CatholicPhilly.com.
The link to the Archbishop’s pastoral letter was clicked more than 2,800 times, and his video message was played 2,260 times.
To date, 1,091 people have registered for one of the 51 information sessions to be offered this spring, according to Deacon James O’Neill, director of strategic operations in the archdiocesan Strategy Office. In addition, he said that Archbishop Pérez has asked every pastor to organize two sessions in their parish to provide more opportunities for people to participate in the collaborative conversations.
Staff from Catholic Leadership Institute will help facilitate conversations among the faithful during the information sessions, capture the feedback of participants and provide summaries.
“We have lots of opportunities for people to participate in conversations,” said Dan Cellucci, CEO of Catholic Leadership Institute. “Part of what we want to do is for people to have that same kind of shocked feeling we have every day when we say there are literally 1.1 million Catholics in our five counties who we never see, and we never reach out to. We must have a sense of urgency about that, and we have to change the way we do things. This is an exciting opportunity for us to live out our faith in this church we love.
For more information, visit https://trustandhope.org/.
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