BishopAccountability.org
	A No-Win Situation for the Bishop Mark Guydish Opinion By Mark Guydish Times-Leader January 19, 2009 http://www.timesleader.com/opinion/columnists/guydish/A_no-win_situation_for_the_bishop_MARK_GUYDISH_OPINION_01-19-2009.html I'm willing to bet a lot of people had the same reaction I did to Bishop Joseph Martino's decision to announce diocesewide church closings via a recorded message during Masses the weekend of Jan 31. Great, another impersonal delivery of news that hits on a deeply personal level. After all, we're talking about closing churches steeped in decades of history; churches with distinctive art and architecture, churches with unique stories behind their construction. Many of these were built by immigrants in their spare time or with their spare dimes. These are repositories of entire lives. Pick an older church and ask any 10 parishioners about the building's significance. Odds are you will find one who was baptized, received Holy Communion and confirmation, got married, and buried their parents there. So, yeah, with that legacy, there will be something deeply cold about the disembodied voice of a distant authority telling you your church – the one your are worshiping in right now, the one you just put money into the collection basket to support for the umpteenth time, the one all your friends and neighbors are sitting in – will soon cease to exist. The recorded voice will not answer questions and will not see your tears or frustration or resignation. It will not patiently listen to your lamentations or appreciations, your scorn or your wistful odes. It will click on, deliver the message, and click off, leaving a priest who likely had nothing to do with the decision left to face your reaction. According to Martino's plan, this will happen at every Mass in every church in the diocese. And you will only learn what is happening to the churches in your neighborhood (or more exactly, your "cluster"). The fate of all churches won't be revealed until the message has been delivered at all Masses. What's best way to hear bad news? I'm sure many will grumble that it all makes the bishop seem aloof, the decision impersonal. Let me offer an alternate theory. Martino took a huge hit when he held a press conference to announce the closing of schools. Students watching him in the auditorium of Bishop Hafey High School broke into screams, and that image made the nightly news. This way, he avoids that pitfall. But there's something else: He arguably makes the message more personal. You get the news that matters most to you where it matters most to you, and you get it before anyone else. Before other churches, before non-churchgoers, before reporters (assuming someone doesn't leak the closings list). Compare it to a combat death. The military doesn't rush the name of the dead soldier out to the world. They tell the next-of- kin first. A general or president doesn't come to your door, but a representative arrives with the message. You learn the news before everyone else. It's not the best way to learn bad news, but what is? Which is the real question, I think. If you don't like hearing your church will soon be empty and up for sale this way, how do you want to hear it? I've said many times the problem has not been Martino's actions, but his methods. There is usually a frustrating sense of detachment, a feeling he opts to stay away from the pain his decisions cause when many in the flock need him to be closer and more involved. I've heard people working in the church-closing process express that same sentiment in recent months: They felt as if they were just going through motions and the decision was out of their hands. On first blush, announcing church closings through a recording may seem to reinforce that idea. But the simple fact is there's no good way to do this. Contact: mguydish@timesleader.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.