Letters to the Editor

”The article in the ‘Guest Commentary’ by Joseph Harris, which appears on page five of the Winter 2004 newsletter, provides an example of dangerous inferences. Mr. Harris criticizes Peter Steinfels' comments regarding Catholics giving to their parishes and dioceses, stating that there is really no problem. I challenge his statement. I am only familiar with the Archdiocese of Atlanta, but I'll bet that the same procedures in effect here in Atlanta, are not uncommon. There is absolutely no problem with what our Catholics give to the Archdiocese (including the Archbishop's Annual Appeal) because the amount they are to give is determined by the Archbishop, and not by the giver. There is an assessment placed upon the local parish and there is NO voice of dissent considered. In the latest annual appeal, the Archdiocese reported that the number of families giving, or committing to give, was in the area of 20% throughout the diocese. Would any right-minded person not think that is a problem?

Nevertheless, the parishes were assessed an amount that had been previously determined by the Archbishop's staff and any shortfalls were taken from whatever other parish funds that were available. Our Archbishop stated in October of 2003 that ‘The Archdiocese doesn't have a problem with Catholic giving.’ What a joke - of course there's no problem when he has the power to assess whatever he deems appropriate or desires.” Mervyn and Mary Burns, Cumming, Ga.

“I found a similarity in the movie ‘The Passion of the Christ’ between how the Jewish High Priests who were so afraid of losing their power could not see Jesus as the Messiah but as a threat to their power. It reminded me of all the Bishops who were also afraid to lose their power and did not see the right thing to do with pedophile priests.” Vincent Curcuru, Simsbury, Ct.

[This letter got lost somewhere in the vineyard. It was written in response to the December “What Do You Think?” column, which asked readers what advice they might give bishops.] “Bearing in mind that serious and patient persuasion would be required to convince the Bishops to make changes in the way they exercise their leadership role, I would like to propose an idea that could make a significant difference in accountability without prejudice to episcopal authority.

There should exist some degree of ‘fraternal accountability’ among the Bishops to ensure that norms such as ‘The Essential Norms for Diocesan/Eparchial Policies Dealing with Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests or Deacons’ are followed, but there is currently no real mechanism for that to take place.

The Bishops should establish a process of Mutual Visitation among the Dioceses of the US Conference. This Mutual Visitation would be analogous to accreditation in schools and hospitals: a group formed from peer communities comes into an organization and visits and talks with elements of the organization (in this case, laity, clergy, religious orders, etc). The visiting group then prepares a report. Since the Diocesan Bishop currently has absolute authority within the Diocese, no one comes into a Diocese and reports independently; all reports to Rome go through the Diocesan Bishop. This is clearly a situation in which needed change might be very difficult to achieve. In the case of Mutual Visitation, an independent visitation group formed by other Bishops would prepare a visitation report that would be sent to the Holy See.

One strength of this approach is that an accreditation visit triggers a valuable process of self-examination in the organization preparing for it. A process of Mutual Visitation could therefore be an effective mechanism for encouraging renewal where it is needed.” Margaret Roylance, VOTF Structural Change Working Group

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