Planning Process
The Archdiocese of Dubuque is embarking on a pastoral planning process to renew discipleship and enhance relationships with Jesus Christ in every corner of the archdiocese.
In our Archdiocese, our cultural and demographic landscape looks different than it did even 10 years ago, while the archdiocesan structural landscape has remained nearly the same for decades.
The pastoral planning process will examine the current structure of parishes and schools to evaluate how they can best meet the needs of the faithful and address challenges facing the Church today.
“This journey in faith is not about simply maintaining the Church — it is about renewing it, together, for the sake of our mission. It is about building a Church that is viable and vibrant not just for today, but for generations to come.”
The Archdiocese of Dubuque is 164 parishes encompassing a broad and diverse area of 28 counties in Northeastern Iowa.
While the general population has been growing, our local church has been declining for several decades as society becomes more secularized, older Catholics die and there are insufficient numbers of young Catholics to take their place.
Over the past decade, Mass attendance and sacramental participation has been on a steady decline. The long-term implications of COVID are unknown, but the rebound in Mass attendance from 2020 to 2024 still leaves us 23% below pre-COVID levels.
Our diocesan priests are aging and the number of priests available to serve our Catholic population is declining. Currently there are more parishes than there are priests serving in the Archdiocese.
The “Journey in Faith” process is intended to help parishes and the people of God in the Archdiocese of Dubuque respond to these new realities and move from maintenance to mission.
This is a discernment of how we will move from simply maintaining the structures we have, towards a more mission focused network of parishes.
This will involve ongoing prayer, listening, feedback, critical thinking, and sacrifice from the entire community, and will result in a renewed pastoral plan for the Archdiocese of Dubuque.