BishopAccountability.org
	Scranton Diocese Fund Drive Short of Goal By Laura Legere Standard-Speaker April 18, 2009 http://www.standardspeaker.com/articles/2009/04/18/news/hz_standspeak.20090418.a.pg6.hz18_ttappeal_s1.2457841_loc.txt The annual fund drive of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton is $830,000 short of its $5.3 million goal nearly two months later than when the goal was met in recent years. A report on the Annual Appeal fundraiser and individual parishes’ progress toward their share of the goal was published in the diocesan Catholic Light newspaper last week. A review of the individual parishes’ progress reveals that three-quarters of the lowest-performing parishes — those raising 40 percent or less of their goal — are also slated to close as part of the diocese-wide restructuring announced in February. The diocese said it is “highly likely” that the economic recession is affecting the campaign, and that there is no correlation between churches that do not meet appeal goals and those slated to close. “Some parishes have reached their goals, or have not yet done so, regardless of whether they are closing,” diocesan spokesman William Genello said in an e-mail. He pointed out that a number of parishes did not reach their appeal goals in years prior to the start of the diocese-wide consolidation process, “so we cannot conclude that there is a correlation.” The diocese has reached its appeal goal every year since it began the fundraiser in 1987. A quarter of the money raised through the appeal is used to fund clergy recruitment, education and retirement. Half of the funds are split between parish life and evangelization programs; the local Catholic newspaper, Web site and television station; and religious education. In 2008, the appeal goal was met by March 6. In 2007, the diocese had far surpassed its goal by Jan. 31. To help make up for the lag in the campaign, the diocese sent letters to all area Catholics who had not donated to the fundraising drive by the middle of January, and parishes that had not reached their individual goals were asked to conduct “phone-a-thons” to call parishioners who had not made a pledge. Now, Bishop Joseph F. Martino has authorized all parishes that have not yet met appeal goals to hold second collections at Masses on the weekends of May 2 and 9, the Catholic Light reported. The bishop has also sent a letter to pastors of those parishes permitting them to use parish savings to reach appeal goals. Critics of the bishop’s manner of conducting parish consolidations say the economy alone cannot account for the lag in fundraising this year. In letters to the editor and other public forums, they have called on unhappy parishioners to withhold funds from the appeal to send a message of dissatisfaction to the local church leader. “I think that’s about as direct as we can be with him because he’s not meeting with anybody,” said Dr. Albert Belardi Jr., a parishioner of St. Francis of Assisi church in South Scranton, which is slated to close but will be open as a secondary worship site temporarily. Belardi’s family had given to the appeal for 15 years, he said, before he decided last year to stop donating. Beside his concerns about the bishop’s process of consolidating churches, he believes that some of the appeal funds are being used to cover sexual abuse settlements — a claim the diocese has denied. Anthony Foti, a member of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Wilkes-Barre who helps lead a group fighting the church’s impending closure, said he has heard many parishioners say that withholding funds is “probably the only way that the bishop may get the message that people are unhappy.” He and his wife, Noreen, emphasized that their foundation, which is fighting the church closure, has never made any recommendations to parishioners about making or withholding donations. “We always felt that was an individual decision,” Foti said. But, she added, “many people feel that’s the only way they can express themselves.” Each parish in the diocese has a different monetary goal for the appeal, ranging from less than $4,000 to $117,000 depending on the size of the parish. In the list published by the diocese last week, parishes are ranked by the percentage of the goal they have achieved, not the amount of money raised. Many of the parishes at the bottom of the current list have perennially raised only a small percentage of their fundraising goals. The diocese has never emphasized that a parish’s financial condition was a primary consideration in whether and how to close churches through the consolidation process. In statements about the process, Martino instead has stressed that the shrinking number of priests and changing demographics of parishioners make maintaining so many individual parishes difficult and impractical given limited financial resources. Critics say, regardless of how a parish’s finances were considered in the consolidation process, giving to the appeal should not be construed as an indication of a parish’s financial health. “You cannot say that how a parish contributed to the Annual Appeal reflects that they were not financially responsible,” Foti said. Her parish, Sacred Heart, is the eighth lowest contributor to this year’s appeal, according to the diocese’s list, but she said parishioners always gave substantial support to the diocese through other channels, including annual assessments. Far more parishes that perform near the bottom of the appeal list than the top are likely to be marked for closure. Many of the lowest-performing churches in the 2006 and 2007 appeals have already closed, including St. John Nepomucene and St. Casimir in Freeland. The nine lowest-performing parishes in this year’s appeal are all slated to close, including four Hazleton-area churches – St. Nazarius, St. Mary and Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the city, and Ss. Peter and Paul in West Hazleton. In all, 23 of the 31 parishes that have raised 40 percent or less of their goal are on the list to close. Less than a quarter of the parishes that have met or exceeded their annual appeal goals — eight of 38 top-performing parishes — are slated to close. llegere@timesshamrock.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.