Nation IN BRIEF : MICHIGAN : 5 Catholic Churches to Close in Detroit

Five of 25 Roman Catholic churches in a yearlong test failed to prove they were economically viable and will be ordered closed, the archdiocese of Detroit announced. The five city parishes will join 30 other churches that Cardinal Edmund C. Szoka, the archbishop of Detroit, ordered closed in 1989 because of dwindling attendance and financial difficulties. The 20 other churches in the test proved their viability and will survive. “The whole intended purpose has been to strengthen the church in the city and, most definitely, that has been accomplished,” said Jay Berman, an archdiocesan spokesman.