Letter asks Pope Francis to investigate Bishop Dewane

By Mary Wozniak
News-Press
September 21, 2014

http://www.news-press.com/story/news/local/2014/09/20/letter-asks-pope-francis-investigate-bishop-dewane/15988639/

The Groundswell website petition asking for Pope Francis to investigate Bishop Dewane.

A letter and petition with nearly 1,300 signatures will soon be on its way to Rome, asking Pope Francis to investigate Bishop Frank Dewane of the Diocese of Venice.

The letter, dated Aug. 28, was written by the Southwest Florida chapter of Call to Action and supported by the local chapter of Voice of the Faithful, two liberal Catholic groups pushing for church reform, including allowing priests to marry and more laity input in decision-making.

The letter claims bullying, intimidation, shaming behaviors and outbursts of anger by Dewane, instilling fear in the faithful.

Other claims are that the bishop dismissed several pastors and unfairly fired more than 20 workers without reason or hearing.

Benedict Nguyen, chief spokesman for the diocese, responded Friday with a two-page statement defending the bishop and discrediting Call to Action.

"The Diocese of Venice is greatly saddened to learn of the repeated attempt to smear publicly the reputation and good name of Bishop Frank J. Dewane and the Diocese of Venice, while also misleading the faithful, by 'Call to Action,' a group that has been deemed 'totally incompatible with the Catholic faith' by the Vatican and countless Catholic faithful," the statement said.

The national Call to Action and Voice of the Faithful groups are backing the local chapters, which have been vocal with their complaints against Dewane before. But this is the first time concerns have been aired and support solicited on a national, even global forum, through the Internet.

National Call to Action posted a petition and portions of the letter on the Groundswell-mvmt.org website. Groundswell is an online social action platform powered by Auburn Theological Seminary.

As of Saturday, the petition had 1,296 signatures.

The message on the Groundswell page is: "We stand with the Catholics of Southwest Florida in asking for an investigation of the autocratic behavior of Bishop Frank Dewane."

"While Pope Francis values openness, dialogue, and consultation, our bishop suppresses the open exchange of ideas," the letter, signed on behalf of the group by Ellen McNally, head of the Southwest Florida Chapter of Call to Action, stated. "We find ourselves in a diocese in which both laity and priests dare not differ with the bishop in any matter, large or small, for fear of retribution."

The letter stated: "Canon Law 212, paragraph 3, makes clear that the laity have the right and even the duty to speak out to Church authorities against injustice and abuse and on behalf of the common good." It also states morale in the diocese is at an all-time low.

Accusations

The petition and letter simply "reiterates the sweeping, unfounded, general accusations from several months ago by a few anonymous priests," the diocese statement said.

Nguyen is referring to a Jan. 17 letter in which 10 priests talk about the alleged breach of Canon, or church, law, including Dewane's dismissal of a council that investigates and resolves issues related to pastoral works in the diocese. It describes a management style of "absolute authoritarianism," featuring "outbursts of rage, use of blasphemous language, despotic demands based not on reason or logic." The letter calls the situation "intolerable." The nuncio's office did not reveal the priests' names.

"The Call to Action chapter there in Southwest Florida has been working on this for a really long time," said Ellen Euclide, director of programs for the national chapter. "They have sent lots of letters to the editor, letters to the Papal Nuncio, other bishops, organized local Catholics, to bring out the voice of the people about this un-pastoral bishop they've got."

The signatures from within the diocese and from across the country show others can relate to the situation in the Diocese of Venice and stand in solidarity with the people to hold leaders accountable, Euclide said.

However, the diocese statement questioned the validity of the signatures and the group's decision to reach out for them. "The promotion of such a petition to the local press is an obvious effort by Call to Action to solicit more 'signatures' and is a blatant publicity effort to increase their database and their coffers, with a 'donation' link adjacent to the 'petition.'

Many signatures could be from people outside the area who have a personal grudge with the Catholic Church, "and likely have never met or even heard of Bishop Dewane," the statement said.

'Desperation'

After gathering more signatures online in the next few days, the letter will be sent to the Pope, with copies sent to the Nuncio, who is Rome's representative in Washington D.C.; and the College of Cardinals in Rome, McNally said.

The Venice diocese covers 10 counties, including Lee and Collier. The diocese serves 60 parishes and about 250,000 Catholics.

John Hancock of Naples, a member of Call to Action and Voice of the Faithful, said "I guess it's an act of desperation in the hope he (Pope Francis) will see the letter." Since nothing seems to be happening after the priests' letter was sent to the Nuncio, "The next thing would be to go to the top," he said. "Why not?"

Many people have left the church because of the problems in the diocese, Hancock said. "I believe in staying and changing it, futile as that probably is. I'd rather stay and do what I can."

There is no guarantee the Pope will even see the letter or petition, but "there is a chance that someone is really listening," Euclide said. "It's been reported by Vatican press that he actually does see mail."

Points from Call to Action letter

• The bishop has dismissed pastors and unfairly fired over 20 workers without reason or hearing and ignored needs of local communities.

• Pastors have requested help from the Papal Nuncio, reporting Dewane of violating Canon Law and operating through intimidation, fear, shaming and bullying.

• The bishop continues to embarrass faithful Catholics by losing his temper, lashing out at innocent students and demoralizing priests and employees of the diocese.