The Vermont Diocese in the State is considering consolidating parishes to deal with a shortage of both priests and parishioners. "This is not just about combining churches but also about bringing people back to the faith," Fr. John McDermott, Director of Pastoral Planning for the Vermont Diocese said.

The meeting of Rutland area Catholics began on a high note, but the future of the church quickly becomes a serious subject for some. "The number of priests in Vermont won't be the same in five or ten years," McDermott said.

The drastic changes will undoubtedly affect all 150,000 Catholics in the state. "It is going to be terrible," said Joanne Slattery. Some say they're not surprised by the current situation. "There's just been a lot going on in the church lately," Slattery said.

Groups of parishioners were asked to come up with some ideas to shuffle the decreasing number of priests across the state. "Vermont's a great place to live, why don't we get more priests to come to Vermont?" asked one parishioner.

Many here are happy to weigh in on the topic and almost everyone agrees if a parish has to close, it should not be theirs. The Diocese wanted to be clear that larger population centres will be affected by the changes, perhaps more so than small towns, because if churches are close together they could more easily be consolidated.