Davenport Bishop Calls All Parish Boards to ‘Important’ Diocese Meeting

By Todd Ruger
Quad-City Times
September 30, 2004

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1036297&t=Gateway&c=30,1036297

The bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Davenport summoned all members of parish corporate boards to a meeting tonight where “important decisions about the future of the diocese will be discussed.”
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Bishop William Franklin called the “special meeting” of all diocese parish boards at St. Patrick Parish in Iowa City, diocese officials said Wednesday.
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A letter from Franklin to all parish corporate boards in the Davenport diocese said, “All members of the parish corporate boards should attend this meeting.”
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Diocese officials did not comment on how often such a special meeting is called or what the topic of the meeting might be.

However, the diocese has discussed out-of-court settlements this month with 37 men alleging that they were sexually abused by priests decades earlier. If those talks fail, trials in 16 lawsuits filed against the diocese are scheduled to begin Nov. 1 at a rate of about one per month.
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Also in September, the diocese temporarily postponed its annual appeal for operating funds while those lawsuits are pending.
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The Annual Diocesan Appeal, which had been scheduled to kick off Saturday and Sunday, raised $2.5 million last year and $2.4 million in 2002, according to audited financial statements printed in the Catholic Messenger, the diocesan newspaper.
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Funds raised during the appeal defray about 70 percent of the operating budget for diocesan ministries and programs, officials said. The balance of the operating budget comes primarily from investments, Diocese spokesman David Montgomery said, while parish activities are supported by Sunday Mass collections.
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Montgomery said the meeting will be in Iowa City because it is the closest major city located near the center of the diocese.
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The diocese, headquartered in Davenport, covers 22 counties in southeast Iowa, and the diocese considered travel time for the attendees, Montgomery said.
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Todd Ruger can be contacted at (563) 383-2493 or truger@qctimes.com.