Catholics forming more megachurches to deal with priest shortage
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
December 9, 2005

SAN ANTONIO - The noise of chatting parishioners saturates the foyer after the five weekend Masses at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church.

Busy parents sympathize with one another. Kids find new playmates. And singles meet other singles.

The foyer helps the 5,000 worshippers each weekend preserve their sense of community. The fast-growing congregation decided five years ago to expand into a 1,500-seat sanctuary instead of splitting into two separate congregations and search for an available priest among a shrinking pool.

Catholic churches are joining their Protestant counterparts across the country in creating megachurches - where thousands, sometimes tens of thousands, of parishioners worship together. But unlike the Protestant churches that use high-profile, evangelistic campaigns to grow, dioceses say it is too few priests and too many worshippers that drives their expansion. The rest