Look at what they did...

Cleveland Church closings.
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First they stripped the churches bare, and now they are closing them.  Vatican II hardly closed before they removed every sign of devotion, every indication of Roman Catholicism - accomplishing in a relatively short time what took generations for the Protestant revolt to accomplish centuries ago.  Catholics forget that some of the hatchet men involved in these closings were parish priests who helped implement key aspects of the iconoclasm which swept the Church after the Council.  And some of these guys are now bishops.  We are told Catholics left the Church in droves?  But who, what drove them away?
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Churchspeak on church closings.
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The Bishop of Cleveland had these words of encouragement regarding the recent closure of the 50th church in Cleveland:

"The Church is about people and their faith, not about buildings, and we will always be here to serve the people,” said Bishop Lennon in a March 2009 statement announcing the closures. “The task for the Church is to be faithful to what God asks of us, which is to bring the message of Jesus Christ to all people, to reach out and serve the poor and marginalized among us, and to become holy and bring people closer to God.” - CNA

Sacrifice and hard work.
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The people who built these churches were mostly working class immigrants, sacrificing for the glory of God and the propagation of the faith.  I was once part of the old St. Ambrose in St. Paul - not the old, old one that was sold to the 7-Up company, but the new one, built by Italians on the lower east side of St. Paul.  Families donated the marble altars and communion rails - which were later ripped out to update a still new church which had been built in 1960.  To add insult to injury - the church was later sold and the name transferred to a mega-church in the suburbs.  The good priest never understood the parishioners sense of betrayal and anger over the easy squandering of funds their donations represented.  Wreck-o-vators and iconoclasts were not always men in business suits - some wore cassocks and capes and beanies.
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Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis
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This fall we will be facing the results of a new strategic plan for our Archdiocese as well - probably not much different than Cleveland's.  I think our Archbishop guided similar changes in Detroit - a thankless job I'm sure.  There aren't as many beautiful churches here as there were in older cities such as Detroit and Cleveland, but there are still a few 'shells' left - although the glorious interiors have long been destroyed.
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Once again it is the laity sacrificed. 
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Laity in this archdiocese have been asked repeatedly to keep the Big Picture in mind... using much of the same churchspeak echoing Bishop Lennon's appeal.  Here are some classic quotes from our Archdiocesan plan:
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"Parish leaders are also asked to see “the bigger picture” — what’s good for the whole of the archdiocese, not just what’s good for their parish."
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“We can’t expect everybody to agree with everything or even to like everything, but what we want people to know is that we respected enough to ask them.”
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“We need to tell people that we expect the best of them, and we have to keep reminding people of that,”
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Changing parish configurations entails pain and loss, but Catholics need to have courage and offer self-sacrifice.

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“When you give up yourself to Christ . . . you’re going to be doing these big, big things.  We may think, ‘We’re losing everything. We’re losing our little church.’  Wait a moment. If you’re in Christ, what makes you think there won’t be greater things to come?”
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Church structures are living, and therefore changing, he said. When parishes are asked to combine, members must keep this understanding at the forefront.
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“It means that something is alive, it’s dynamic, it’s growing, it’s going onward, it’s going upward."

Up yours.*
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Obviously it's a "they" and "we" thing. 
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Photo credit: Closing Catholic Churches in Cleveland  First they stripped the altars and the sanctuary and protestantized the church - and now the churches are sold off to the highest bidder.
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Link:
Strategic Planning articles on Stella Borealis
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*no disrespect intended.