Bishop Galante's parish reconfiguration plan, if implemented, will result in a reduction of parishes in the Diocese of Camden from 125 to 68 (a 46% reduction) and a reduction of churches from 133 to approximately 103 (a 22% reduction).  One of the four justifications offered by Bishop for the parish reconfiguration was "shifting demographics."   The following is an excerpt from Bishop's reconfiguration announcement:

"Second, in many areas of the diocese, parish facilities exist in very close geographic proximity to each other.  They were established in a different era to serve Catholic people that have now moved from former Catholic population centers into other parts of South Jersey or even out of the diocese completely, leaving behind under-utilized and often aging facilities." 

A quick summary of population data for some areas of the diocese are shown below (all from wikipedia):

                    Deptford           Salem County                Camden                   Atlantic City

1950                 7,304                 49,508                       124,555                       61,657

1960               17,878                 58,711                       117,159                       59,544

2006-7*          30,529                 66,595                         80,010                      39,684

*most recent available estimate

So, here are some logical conclusions based on these demographics and Bishop's statement above.  Deptford, which has more than quadrupled in size since 1950, and Salem County, which has seen slow steady growth and is one of the few areas left in NJ that is not already built out, should see very little impact from the reconfiguration.  On the other hand, Camden and AC, which have lost more than one-third of their population will likely suffer a high percentage loss of churches and parishes.  This all seems pretty basic and straightforward, so let's see if the high paid diocesan consultants came to the same conclusion.   (We're not going to bother pretending that anyone else had any input into the decisions). 

 Let's look at Salem County first.  Salem County started with six parishes and six churches.  After the reconfiguration, only one of the six Salem County parishes will remain, with three churches.  This is an 83% reduction in parishes (compared to 46% throughout the diocese) and a 50% reduction in churches (compared to 22% throughout the diocese).  That's odd.  Did those high price consultants (paid for by YOUR DONATIONS) somehow conclude that rural Salem County is suffering an extreme Catholic exodus?  Perhaps the result of urban decay, loss of industry, gangs and crime?  Do they actually think that Salem County's six parishes (the fewest of any county in NJ) are somehow "in very close geographic proximity to each other," thereby justifying their closures?  Could it be that they believe the small churches in Salem County are actually huge, empty "facilities" falling into disrepair?  Have they ever even been to Salem County?  For that matter, has the Bishop?  Is this what they would expect us to believe about Salem County?