St. Vitus municipality in Hemer: Austerity measures force to sell building!

St. Vitus municipality in Hemer: Austerity measures force to sell building!

hemer. The St. Vitus community in Hemer is facing a dramatic change! Instead of the hoped -for renovation work, valuable church buildings must now be handed over. The austerity measures of the Archdiocese of Paderborn meet the community hard and force them to separate themselves from chapels, churches and rectory.

The reasons are alarming: demographic changes and social developments make a strategic re -evaluation of church real estate necessary. The Archdiocese of Paderborn has found that the existing buildings no longer fit the current needs. In addition, there will be fewer church tax resources that are available to the municipalities. Volunteers who are often responsible for the buildings are facing growing complexity, while the number of helpers continuously decreases.

drastic measures required

The Archdiocese has asked all communities to submit at least 30 percent of their operational buildings. Anyone who refuses risk the loss of grants for urgently needed renovations. For the St. Vitus community, this could have catastrophic consequences: the urgently needed interior renovation of the St. Peter and Paul Church in Geitbecke could fall by the wayside. The planned light and day church in the Christ King Church would also no longer be feasible, since the financial resources are not sufficient without support from Paderborn.

"The decision to separate from buildings was anything but easy," explains Helmut Schmitz from the church council. But the necessity is clear: the administration of all buildings exceeds the community's financial and personnel resources. However, the affected buildings should not simply be demolished. Instead, solutions are being worked on to enable sensible pastoral use through other denominations. On Wednesday, November 27, at 5:30 p.m., the church council invites all interested parties to the large hall of Haus Hemer to present the real estate concept that provides for a reduction in building space by around 30 percent.