"Since 1969, the number of Catholics in the archdiocese had declined by 69 percent; the number of priests had fallen by roughly two-thirds."

In business terms the Catholic Church is no different than any major corporation faced with shutting down unproductive facilities or stores and downsizing personnel when its product, services, or business model are viewed by consumers as out of touch with their needs.  Think of Sears and K-Mart in an Amazon world. 

Corporations respond by either closing their doors completely or changing their management team and approach to their markets in the hope of reversing the trend, often with harsh but necessary actions that are always accompanied by much angst.    

"a sweeping and painful reorganization: consolidating 212 churches down into 126" is the first and easiest part of the solution.  The hard part is what comes next...how does a global calcified organization like the Catholic Church change its approach to its market to reverse the trend?