By Gary Soulsman
News Journal
February 8, 2011
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110208/NEWS/102080309
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| The Very Rev. Norman Carroll speaks between Masses at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church on Sunday. |
WILMINGTON -- As parishioner Flo Yezek laid out cakes and lemon squares before the 7 a.m. Mass on Sunday, she breathed a sigh of relief that St. Elizabeth Catholic Parish would be spared having to pay a $3 million jury award.
"It's a lot of money," said Yezek, thinking of the schools in her parish.
The high school and elementary school have 750 students and 80 employees.
Since December, some have "wondered if our schools would have to be sold, and that would have been very sad," Yezek said.
A faith-based education in the Diocese of Wilmington is something many of the 230,000 Catholics have worried about, as schools in New Castle County have consolidated or closed, with enrollment in diocesan schools dropping 24 percent over 10 years, according to the state Department of Education.
But that is not the fate for St. Elizabeth's elementary and high schools -- they will survive. And as worshippers came for Mass on Sunday, they picked up a parish bulletin giving them a bit of good news.
Inside was a letter from Bishop Francis Malooly, explaining that last week's $77 million settlement with more than 140 abuse victims would end lawsuits against the diocese and its parishes.
"I thank God for giving us this opportunity to reach this settlement," Malooly wrote.
The settlement included the $3 million levied against St. Elizabeth's by a Superior Court jury, which said the parish was at fault for failing to supervise now-defrocked priest Francis DeLuca, who in the 1960s violated John M. Vai.
"The settlement is something we've been longing to hear and the meaning of it all took a while to sink in," said the Very Rev. Norman Carroll, pastor of St. Elizabeth's.
In his Sunday homily, Carroll urged parishioners to continue to be "the church" by being a light in the world and giving "comfort and hope to the afflicted."
Later, he said the settlement was a sign of hope but not something to celebrate, given that the whole matter has tarnished St. Elizabeth's and the image of the parish must be restored, along with people's trust.
"There's healing to be done on many levels," Carroll said between Masses. "But in many ways, this has brought us together, reaffirming what we mean to each other."
Nearby sat Shirley Bounds, principal of the parish high school.
"There's relief with the settlement, because the good things that faculty and students do here are difficult to replace," she said.
The high school's 400 students are involved in service projects in the community and are an example of a school that is working, she said. All students graduate and last year 100 percent went to college.
Carroll and Bounds are grateful that the bishop reaffirmed a commitment to protect children from abuse and to work toward the healing of victims. Carroll also pointed out that the Vai lawsuit was originally to have been heard with the parish and diocese both involved.
But the diocese's bankruptcy filing in October 2009 meant that the diocese was severed from the Vai trial, after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi ruled in August that lawsuits against individual parishes could go forward.
"I feel very much thrown under the bus, as much of my parish have," Carroll said in the penalty phase of the trial.
Afterward, he heard from Catholic leaders who agreed that the diocese was the guiding hand of its 57 parishes. Carroll said he's grateful that the diocesan administration has taken responsibility for the supervision of DeLuca when he was priest.
A major part of the settlement -- $53 million -- will come from the Catholic Diocese Foundation. It's a fund with close to $48 million in cash and liquid investments and another $5.5 million in real estate, said diocese attorney Tony Flynn.
The foundation was created in 1928 to fund capital expenses such as the purchase of land for new parishes. The fund also paid for unexpected needs, such as broken boilers and failing roofs. John J. Raskob, the Catholic businessman who was a financier for the DuPont Co. and General Motors, helped create the fund.
In a recent year, Flynn said, the foundation gave to 20 diocesan entities. They received grants totaling $2.6 million, ranging from $10,000 to $750,000.
These included $505,000 for St. Paul School in Wilmington, $750,000 for the Little Sisters of the Poor in Newark, $500,000 for St. Christopher Parish in Chester, Md., and $75,000 for St. Elizabeth's.
In a typical year, the foundation also gives $25,000 to the St. Peter Cathedral School in Wilmington, which should be able to survive without the stipend, Flynn said.
On the other hand, St. Paul's, which has received $4.4 million over 10 years, will not be able to make up the loss and will have to close, Flynn said.
"The plan would end the foundation's historic role as the primary underwriter of the building of schools and churches, and the provider of financial support for a myriad of other good works," the bishop wrote in a Jan. 11 letter to members of the diocese.
Other cash and real-estate contributions for the settlement will come from Catholic Cemeteries, Siena Hall, Seton Villa, Children's Home, insurance carriers and the sale of the bishop's residence on Bancroft Parkway.
This will mean that "ministries will be curtailed, and some layoffs will be necessary," the bishop wrote.
In bearing the financial responsibility for the settlement, the diocese is showing its reliance on parishes for ministry and the hope that they can remain strong, Carroll said.
"The parish and schools are where ministry happens," he said.
But even with the settlement, St. Elizabeth Parish member Alice Soja, who is 83, has questions.
"I'm trying to be positive, but I wonder what this means for ministry in the diocese down the road," she said.
One thing is clear: Future capital expenses will be borne more by the members of the parishes, since the foundation is being drained, Carroll said.
While that may be harder for St. Elizabeth's if the parish needs major repairs, many of the parishioners have proved that they have faith and will persevere, he said.
And for the parents of students at St. Elizabeth High School, there are answers about whether it will be around.
"We will be here," Bounds said. "We never had the discussion about closing and we are confident in going on."
Contact Gary Soulsman at 324-2893 or gsoulsman@delawareonline.com.
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