Catholic Services Appeal Update: a Day Late and a Million Dollars Short

By Jennifer Haselberger
Canonical Consultation
October 28, 2015

http://canonicalconsultation.com/blog.html

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Pastors of parishes in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis this week received the following update on the status of the 2015 Catholic Services Appeal. Frankly, I am surprised that they are only $1,000,000 short, especially given the high legal costs associated with the bankruptcy and fighting the criminal charges leveled against the Archdiocesan corporation.

What I find most interesting, however, is comparing this brief list of 'great things' done with CSA funds to the list provided at the end of last year's appeal. As you will see, the difference in funds allotted for parish rebates alone totals $1,000,000 (the amount the CSA claims to be short), yet the contributions to scholarships for Catholic high school students and for the education of seminarians have also apparently been reduced by half. I suspect that this is because the Archdiocese has continued to shift costs properly belonging to the bankrupt Central Corporation (like the salaries for priests that serve as prison and hospital chaplains) onto the CSA.