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LETTER to the editor
“The article from the Palm Beach (FL) diocese (In the Vineyard, Oct.
5) has made me more intent on speaking my mind.
The autocratic hand of the diocese has made it possible for the resident priest
to raid the parish funds with impunity. My own experience has made this more
evident. I was the last parish council president in Sacred Heart parish, Clinton,
IN. I resigned because of ill-health four years ago. At that time we had been
assigned a new pastor who had ties to Clinton, IN (the westernmost parish in
the Indianapolis archdiocese). Prior to his assignment we had worked well with
the pastor, made necessary repairs to the church, gymnasium, and school, and
run a successful campaign to raise funds to keep the school open; we achieved
a new openness with the parishioners, which I hoped would be a model for other
parishes.
Upon his appointment, I notified the pastor that I would make my resignation
available should he desire a new parish council president. He notified me that
it wouldn't be necessary. Then, he instituted a new policy of meeting every
other month. Minutes of the previous meeting were distributed before each meeting
and then collected at the close of the council. He explained that he didn't
want anyone discussing council business outside the room. Financial reports
were likewise distributed, then collected. Finally, the financial report was
discontinued. At this point, I had to resign because it was hard for me to
attend meetings. Since then, he has closed the school but maintained the bingo
games twice a week (which were instituted to support the school). He accounts
to no one in the parish about the funds…. In addition, he has publicly
berated some parishioners using profanity.
All this has caused attendance at Mass to drop off to nearly nothing. It doesn't
matter to him because he is off to Rome for a visit about four times a year.
People here are starved for religious ministry. They come to me asking what
to do. We have written to the Indianapolis Vicar-General, who has made one
visit to the parish and written a finding that he found nothing wrong with
our parish leadership. We are now at a loss because of the shortage of priests
in the Indianapolis Archdiocese.
We have to travel long distances to find a priest other than the one here.
What do we do about sickness in the hospital, or a funeral? Someone other than
Rome needs to hold these men accountable for the manner in which they exercise
their ministry to the parish.” Louis Savage
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