College to train parishioners in church management

By STEPHANIE REITZ
Associated Press Writer
December 27, 2009

HARTFORD, Conn. - With the number of ordained priests declining nationwide, a Connecticut college is launching a master's degree program to train lay persons to become parish administrators.

Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell recently received the state Board of Governors for Higher Education's unanimous approval to offer the degree, a master of arts in pastoral studies.

It will be the first of its kind in Connecticut, where about 1.3 million of the state's 3.5 million residents are Catholic.

It also has special significance in the state, where financial scandals involving priests led to an ill-fated legislative effort last spring to give lay members more control over parish finances. That proposal drew more than 3,500 angry Catholics to the Capitol for a protest rally. the rest