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	St. Thomas' Parish Council Meets on Proposal By Eugene Michael Rochester Catholic July 30, 2009 http://rochestercatholic.com/2009/07/30/st-thomas-parish-council-meets-on-proposal/ Last night I attended the parish council meeting at St. Thomas the Apostle. The purpose of the meeting was to review the Irondequoit Pastoral Planning Group's proposal to close St. Thomas. I didn't do a hard count, but there appeared to be about 150 people in attendance. About 30 people requested permission to address the council with their concerns about the closing recommendation. The biggest issue of the night was finances. According to parishioners, it has been many years since an annual finance report has been made available for parishioners. A former head of the parish council stated that, during his term, he had made repeated requests for a detailed financial report. His requests were never satisfied. Some knowledgeable people at the meeting stated that this lack of financial disclosure is a violation of canon law. One of the most contentious issues of this process has been the facility analysis that was performed by diocesan consultant, Tom Hussey. This analysis was one of the key factors that the IPPG utilized in making their determination for closure. This analysis claimed that St. Thomas needed about $900,000 in structural repairs. This number has been highly suspect and now there is evidence that those suspicions may be well founded. Here is what a parishioner found in the St. Thomas parish council meeting minutes for November 12, 2008: The facilities assessment for St. Thomas is $250,000-$300,000 for needed structural repairs. The list of repairs will be prioritized; some are not in urgent need and can be budgeted over time. So, only 9 months ago, the structural analysis for St. Thomas was about $600,000 less than the diocesan consultant's assessment. Also, just late last year, there was no sense of urgency regarding at least some of the repairs. This is a major discrepancy that will need to be addressed if the IPPG is to have any credibility with their closing recommendation. This is the sort of thing that has led many to believe that this process is being driven by other agendas that are less than honorable. Beyond the issue of finances, several people called for the removal of St. Thomas' IPPG representative, Margi Ochs. Some were quite upset with her because, reportedly, she has voted against her own parish council's desires in her tenure on the IPPG. One person suggested that a committee be formed in order to find a new parish representative on the IPPG. Father Tanck said he would look into it. In conversations with council members after the meeting, several of them stated how they had been kept woefully uninformed on the status of their parish and the proceedings of the IPPG. They were quite shocked at the closing recommendation as it seemed to come from completely out of the blue. Although Mass attendance has declined since the IPPG's flawed cluster implementation, they were never given any indication that things were in dire straights. Up until the time of the IPPG's closing proposal, they were being given the impression that St. Thomas' financial status was better than some, and no worse than others in Irondequoit. In fact, recent fundraisers had gone extremely well, with almost $50,000 raised for two different projects in the last twelve months. As the evidence begins to mount, the IPPG's recommendation is becoming more and more suspect. Last night, many people asked why there was such a rush to get this all done by September. The parish council has not yet seen any detailed documentation of the supposed structural and financial problems at St. Thomas. The parishioners have even less information. Some people at the meeting stated that the IPPG process was reminiscent of the Obama administration's efforts to ram healthcare down our throats before all the documentation can be examined. As the meeting closed, Father Tanck said no date has yet been set for the council's vote on the IPPG recommendation. The original plan was to have a plan to the bishop by September. In my opinion, there is no way this can happen unless the IPPG completely disregards the wishes of the people at St. Thomas for proper documentation. That documentation includes the IPPG meeting minutes for the last 5 years and full financial disclosure of St. Thomas' assets and liabilities. It is my prediction that if these documents are produced, the IPPG proposal will not hold water. Keeping people in the dark and ramrodding proposals through is not proper conduct for a body of people who profess Christianity. We are all too used to seeing that sort of behavior from our agenda-driven politicians. Let's keep it out of the affairs of the Church.
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