THE CATHOLIC church in Llanidloes is set to close as the Bishop of Wrexham outlines “radical” change to an “unsustainable” situation as congregation and priest numbers drop.

The closure of Our Lady and Saint Richard Gwyn in Llanidloes is among a raft of church closures and parish mergers proposed in Rt Rev Peter Brignall’s shock plans announced in a pastoral letter to parishioners earlier this month.

Rev Brignall acknowledged that the sweeping changes, which will close 22 churches in north Wales, will be seen by some as “shocking” and a “scandal”.

Llanidloes church does not currently have a priest, with Father Victor Walter, based at Newtown, serving the parish.

Llanidloes currently has an informal arr­angement with Holy Spirit in Newtown, but the two will become a single, new parish by 15 May under the plans.

The name and precise boundaries are yet to be defined.

Fr Walter also oversees St Winefride Church in Welshpool and “intermediate” term plans will see Llanidloes and Newtown amalgamated into a single, larger parish again with the Welshpool church.

The end result of the plans will see Our Lady and Saint Richard Gwyn closed in the “long term”, with parishioners from Llanidloes being­ forced to travel to Welshpool or Newtown to attend Mass.

No timescale was given by the bishop for the closure of the Llanidloes church.

In his Pastoral Letter, Rev Brignall said the plans will be a “challenge”, but “also a huge opportunity for renewal”.

“Churches are going to be closed and I hope some new ones built; parishes are going to be suppressed and new ones established, and some Mass times will be altered,” he said.

“Not all of this will happen at once, but some of it will happen immediately.

“The model of the church we have inherited is, in business terms, no longer fit for purpose and failing now in her mission.

“Our Catholic communities have not grown from within, have not produced native vocations to the priesthood and religious life in anything like sufficient numbers to maintain the parish structures that our forbearers have handed down to us.

“This situation is not sustainable, the current model of church that we have is not realistic and we don’t have the time to evolve to ano­ther model; there has to be radical but, I hope, creative change.

“Many of the details and consequences of closures and reorganisation cannot be worked out beforehand and can only be faced in the reality of the new situation.”