Like many dioceses today, Detroit is feeling the pinch of hard times — and the squeeze is now affecting huge numbers of archdiocesan staff.

About a third of those on the payroll are being given their walking papers:

It will reduce its central staff from 264 to 187, one of the biggest reductions in years, said Joe Kohn, an official with the archdiocese. And it plans to sell the Gabriel Richard building on Michigan Avenue in downtown Detroit, one of its main offices.

The archdiocese oversees 1.4 million Catholics in metro Detroit, the largest religious denomination in the region. But the slumping economy has taken its toll on the church’s financial and property investments. And tithing is down between 5% and 10%, compared to previous years.

But wait: there’s more. And it doesn’t bode well for communications in the diocese.

Also in trouble, evidently, is the archdiocesan paper, The Michigan Catholic, which will no longer receive a subsidy from the archdiocese to continue publishing.

My prayers go out to all in Detroit during these turbulent times.

H/T The Papist.