A Forced March On
the Road to Accountability
It isnt easy and the outcome is never guaranteed, but there is a way to move a good bill in the right direction. Boston VOTF and others have successfully moved the Senator Marian Walsh bill (S 2267) now S 2313 into
and out of the Senate, where it passed by 33-4. On its way to the Senate,
VOTF and the Council of Parishes provided all the contact information needed
in order to register support for the bill, which would put all religious
institutions on equal footing with other charities already required to disclose
finances (in Mass., there are 30,000 registered charities).
The push has been on to get S- 2313 through the House in the current legislative session. What follows is an abbreviated chronology of communication efforts in the last week.
Earlier this month
[Excerpt from a Nov. 9 clarification letter sent by John Hynes of the Steering Committee for the Boston Area VOTF Council. This followed several updates from the Boston Council, as the bill changed numbers and faced various opponents and supporters.]
An Act Relative to Charities in Massachusetts would require religious organizations like the Archdiocese of Boston to disclose financial information now required of all other nonprofit organizations. This Act applies to corporations and so would NOT require any reporting by individual parishes within a Diocese or Archdiocese. The key to understanding this is the fact that parishes within a Catholic Archdiocese are not separately incorporated. The only organizations required to report under this proposed legislation would be the Archdiocese of Boston and the Dioceses of Fall River, Springfield, and Worcester a single report for each of these.
I regret to have to tell you that some members of the hierarchy in this Commonwealth are spreading misinformation about this proposed legislation. I refer specifically to the memorandum dated November 8, 2005, which I have forwarded below. It is from Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell, Bishop of Springfield and is addressed to All Pastors, Administrators, Parish Finance Council Chairpersons. The statement contained in that memorandum that this proposed legislation would require each parish to file an annual report of financial and real estate holdings with the Massachusetts Attorney General's office is simply NOT TRUE. Similar messages have been circulated in the Archdiocese of Boston.
The Archdiocese of Boston, which includes all of the parishes of the Archdiocese, has a legal existence in this Commonwealth. It exists as a corporation sole, created by an act of the Legislature (ch. 560) in 1897. The Boston Archdiocese sought and received the Commonwealth's permission to exist as a corporation. Like all incorporated churches, it exists as a special kind of corporation, one that is exempt from taxes. Though tax-exempt, it, nevertheless, uses the services of the Commonwealth and of a host of cities and towns. Each time the church or any other tax-exempt avails itself of a government-provided service, someone else picks up the tab. Financial transparency seems like a small price to pay for such a privileged status, particularly when, as is the case with this proposed legislation, the mechanism of transparency is one that does NOT interfere in any way with the ability to practice religion. The other Archdioceses in this Commonwealth are each organized as a single corporation sole, including all of the parishes within their jurisdiction.
The Steering Committee of the Boston Voice of the Faithful Council has argued for some time now that donors deserve the right to know something about the finances of the organizations to which they are donating. Indeed, it was our strong conviction with respect to the rights of donors that led us to become citizen sponsors of this proposed legislation. We believe this legislation will actually help the Church, not hurt it. It is only when prospective donors have the kind of information called for in this proposed legislation that religious organizations like the dioceses of this Commonwealth will begin to see a significant reversal of the decline in donations.
Please note that we are not talking major reporting burden here. Some of the smallest charities in the Commonwealth currently provide annual reports of gross revenues, expenses, fund balances, top salaries, and other financial data to the Massachusetts Attorney General. Providing such reports is a fact of their organizational life. Why should religious charities be any different, particularly when many of them have members who would and could do the necessary work pro bono?
The goals of the Boston Voice of the Faithful Council include supporting priests of integrity. We regard that goal as very important and would not take lightly any action that might be a burden to our priests. That is why we are so pleased that this proposed legislation places no burden whatsoever on parish priests, and when it is passed only a Diocese or Archdiocese will have to file the Form PC once a year. Individual parishes and pastors will not have to file anything.
Senate
Bill 2313 Update
November 14, 2005
Late Monday evening,
Nov. 14: Working with Peter Borre of the Council of Parishes, John Hynes of the Boston Council Steering Committee, sent a brief email reminder to call representatives in support of SB 2313. Links to identifying representatives, phone numbers and addresses had already been distributed, as well as contact information to thank particular representatives and senators.
The Council of Parishes and Boston Area Voice of the Faithful Council urge you to support S-2313, An Act Relative to Charities in Massachusetts (the Sen. Walsh bill) by calling your representative in the Massachusetts House of Representatives tomorrow morning, Tuesday, November 15, and asking your representative to support S-2313 on the floor of the House. There is strong momentum behind the bill: the Senate passed it by an overwhelming margin last week, and House Speaker Sal DiMasi has agreed to have this bill taken up in the House, perhaps as early as tomorrow, and in any case by Wednesday, the last scheduled day of this session (before a break until the new year). It is reported that several representatives have agreed to support the bill on the floor.
Senate
Bill 2313 November
15, 2005
Message from John
Hynes: We have learned that the substantial progress on getting the House of Representatives to pass *An Act Relative to Charities in Massachusetts* may get derailed tomorrow mid-morning.
Representative Byron Rushing, Democratic from Boston, has convened a meeting around 11:00am to rally opposition to the bill by inviting colleagues to hear from Laura Everett from the Massachusetts Council of Churches (a group strongly against).
The Council of Parishes and the Boston Area Voice of the Faithful Council urge you to [repeat your phone calls and contact efforts to support this bill].
November 16, 2005
Message from VOTF John Hynes:
The news of the day is that House Speaker DiMasi did not follow through on
his
commitment to bring the bill to the floor before the session ended yesterday.
Marian Walsh describes that situation as "Victory delayed!" and
I would add
that it is also "Justice delayed!" However, we will persevere and
Justice will not be denied.
Peter Borre of the Council of Parishes said that the RCAB has
postponed, but not avoided, its day of reckoning. He added, “It is peculiar that on
the one hand, Archbishop O'Malley is committed to financial transparency, but
on the other hand is fighting it so fiercely through his lobbying group, the
Massachusetts Catholic Conference; it reminds me of the famous St. Augustine
prayer, ‘O Lord make me virtuous – but not yet.’”
Stay tuned.
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