By Sarah Mac Donald, Dublin

The leaders of 24 international reform groups who met in Limerick, Ireland, in April are urging Pope Francis to call for a halt to the church's policy of clustering parishes into megaparishes as a response to the decline in priest numbers.

In an open letter, the 32 signatories -- from groups such as Catholics for Renewal in Australia, A Call to Action in England, and the Society for Open Christianity for the 21st Century in Slovakia -- tell Francis that the future of parish life is "massively threatened."

http://ncronline.org/news/global/reform-groups-letter-francis-stop-combining-parishes-megaparishes