By Brian Lockhart
The Advocate
March 10, 2009
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/ci_11882379?source=most_viewed
HARTFORD — Tom Gallagher, a resident of the Riverside section of Greenwich, is the son of a former Catholic schools superintendent who attended law school at the Catholic University of America, worked for the late Mother Teresa's religious order and is a long-time Eucharistic minister at Greenwich Hospital.
He also has met two Popes — John Paul II in 2001 and Pope Benedict XVI in 2008.
So it's safe to say it would take a lot to keep Gallagher from attending Sunday Mass at his parish, St. Catherine of Siena.
But when priests over the weekend read aloud a letter from the Bridgeport Diocese condemning a bill he inspired to reform the state's Religious Corporations Act, Gallagher admitted that advanced warning kept him away.
"Given that this letter was going to be read I attended Mass this weekend in spirit," Gallagher said Tuesday, during an interview at the Capitol.
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| Catholic parishioners Tom Gallagher, left, and Dr. Paul Lakeland, right, speak at a news conference about proposed changes to state law on parish finances at the Legislative building in Hartford on Tuesday. |
The silver-haired, mild-mannered 46-year-old drove to Hartford on Tuesday morning in an attempt to quell some of the criticism levied at a proposal to revise how the church's finances are governed.
At a news conference, he read mostly from a statement explaining his background, his rationale for proposing the legislation to the chairmen of the judiciary committee and outlining a few areas where he agreed the bill went too far.
Gallagher also told reporters he had asked that a public hearing on the legislation, previously scheduled for today, be delayed for further legal review.
An unknown in Hartford, Gallagher was later mocked by House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, during a GOP news conference opposing the legislation.
"Are we running this show based on some guy?" Cafero told reporters.
But Gallagher — a registered Republican — did not just pop up out of nowhere and start demanding reforms.
Gallagher was born in Binghamton, N.Y., to a family of 10 siblings.
He was raised in the Catholic church and the teachings continue to have a major impact on his life. After working as a Wall Street securities lawyer Gallagher now focuses his time on a small business — Wake Up! — which provides prayers, inspiration and wellness messages to be played on computers, iPods, cellular phones and radios.
A 17-year resident of Connecticut, Gallagher became a trustee at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenwich in January 1997 — one month after the resignation of then Monsignor Charles Stubbs.
Stubbs announced his retirement in December 1996, citing health reasons. He was a few years later defrocked after admitting to molesting a boy in the 1980s.
Stubbs' departure from St. Mary's was dogged by questions of improper spending of least a half a million dollars. But the diocese never provided details.
When The Advocate revisited the case in 2006, Gallagher told the newspaper that if Stubbs' spending was illegal, the diocese never pursued it, so the parish never filed an insurance claim.
"There was no appetite to make a claim, because the insurance company would have needed a police report to verify what was taken," Gallagher said at the time.
Gallagher, who stepped down as a trustee in 1999 after unspecified "differences of opinion" with the pastor and a junior priest, said Tuesday it was "an incredibly rewarding experience" that inspired his current efforts at church reform.
"When you get in the heart of an organization you develop sensitivities to its strengths and weaknesses," he said.
In January 2007, Gallagher wrote a column in The Advocate calling on state lawmakers and the Catholic faith to make changes to the Religious Corporation Act "that produce a governing structure that allows for the best of the priesthood and the laity to blossom in an environment of mutual respect and understanding."
Later that winter, Gallagher urged state Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, and the Judiciary Committee to take up a bill, but it was too late in the legislative session.
He tried again last year, persuading now retired Rep. Claudia "Dolly" Powers, R-Greenwich, to sponsor the reforms. But again, the proposal did not move ahead, this time, McDonald said, because it was a shorter session and the committee was "swamped" by proposals to increase penalties for violent offenders after the deadly Cheshire home invasion.
Gallagher on Tuesday said he had exchanged e-mails with McDonald earlier this session about the possibility of the bill being raised and was as surprised as anyone to learn last week that McDonald and co-chairman Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, were moving forward with it.
"I was called a day and a half before" by McDonald, Gallagher said.
Gallagher at times Tuesday seemed overwhelmed by the media attention and by the criticism of his reforms.
But he is not a total stranger to the spotlight.
Last summer, Gallagher drew ire in an issue that made national news — he reported a makeshift neighborhood Wiffle ball field to Greenwich town officials and it, along with a 12-foot-high replica of Fenway Park's green Monster, were torn down.
Gallagher also made local headlines in 2007 and 2008 for participating in extreme off-road foot races through the Chilean and Gobi deserts.
Asked Monday what compelled him to continues his push for church reforms, Gallagher cited his upbringing.
"The fact is I'm one of 10 kids of terrific parents who have formed us to love Jesus, the Catholic faith and church," he said. "When you grow up with that training you end up wanting to fight for what you love."
— Staff Writer Brian Lockhart can be reached at brian.lockhart@scni.com or 750-5352.
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