MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation
04/12/2015
Jennifer Haselberger
Last week pastors of parishes in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis began to receive letters aimed at addressing the decline in giving to the yearly Archdiocesan fundraising initiative known as the ‘Catholic Services Appeal’. The letters include a ‘performance report’ for each parish which, in the case of every one that I have seen, means an unflattering comparison between parish-wide giving last year and this. Also included is a list of names of the parishioners who gave last year but have not given to the current appeal. The pastors who are receiving these letters are being asked to personally contact those individuals and request their participation in the 2015 CSA.
I suspect that the number of pastors who will actually do this will be low. Most would know, as one would hope the ‘Catholic Services Appeal Foundation’ also knows, that those who are not contributing are doing so for reasons that will not be rectified by a phone call from the pastor.
Unfortunately, these letters were sent out during the same week that the Archdiocese requested bankruptcy Judge Robert Kressel permit it to pay its attorneys on a more frequent basis. According to the Star Tribune, the Archdiocese’s attorneys, who are earning approximately $473 an hour, are currently being paid on a quarterly basis. The Archdiocese argued in court that paying its attorneys every 120 days ‘imposes an undue burden,’ that could be reduced if it was permitted to make payments every 60 days. Judge Kressel disagreed, stating ‘I do not see the burden,’ and the motion was denied.
Perhaps even more interestingly, the letters went out during the same week that more information became available about the New York Attorney General’s investigation into the financial management of the non-profit Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. The investigation, which the New York Times is heralding as a ‘ringing alarm for nonprofit boards across the country long accustomed to minimal scrutiny or accountability’, came about after the school, which was founded by philanthropist Peter Cooper to be ‘open and free to all’, began charging tuition in order to avoid financial ruin.
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