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LETTERS
to the Editor
Send to pthorp.ed@votf.org
“As David Gibbon's cover
liner on this subject [diocesan cover-ups of abuse by clergy] in the Feb.
12, 2004 Commonweal implicitly semaphores, the only way to ensure
that this latest example of freewheeling mismanagement and resulting abuse
[grand jury finding of fault in the Philadelphia archdiocese] cannot go on
repeating itself institution-wide is not, as some shortsightedly suggest,
to ‘cut off the water’ (i.e., money) but to control it with externally
audited line-item accounting, followed by annual publication -- as a new
policy to save the church from its leaders' misbegotten priority of emphasizing
assets over saving souls -- of completely independent CPAs' findings, in
fully-detailed plain English in every parish nationwide, right before each
Advent. To let things continue as the bishops would love to see them continue
bids fair to crucify our spiritual endowment in ways The Founder never intended.
To let the gentlemen perennially self-invested with such unaccountable, Old
Boyishly irresponsible decision-making power go on raking it in and disbursing
it any way they feel like disbursing it, guarantees even more disastrous
scandals to come -- hard as that may be to imagine, given the destroyed innocence
that should have been their main concern.” J. Conniff
“Re: “The Elephant is Shrinking” (9/22 Vineyard).
If you want to shrink the elephant, stop feeding it! Withhold your cash;
redirect it to forms of church that are inclusive. Demand accountability
for the money you give and a vote in how it is spent. When the money stops
bishops will listen and work for change. If you keep paying for abuse and
arrogant misuse of power you have threads in your ‘weave’ that are destructive
and it is about time for your 'weave' to become unraveled. How much does
it take to break the pattern of accepting abuse?” Sarah Flynn
“Greetings! I have always
maintained that the faithful are "the church" and the clergy our pastors
who lead us in faith and morals. Unfortunately, not many of our clergy practice
what they preach. I am still faithful to my Church and will continue to be
until death do us part. However, I see the need to be an active parishioner
and support and encourage the clergy who faithfully practice their vows.
That said, I will share
a recent incident that happened in our church. Our Parish, St. Anthony de
Padua was founded by a Spanish missionary priest in 1927. It was built to
serve a predominantly Spanish speaking community in the San Antonio, Texas
area. For years, a mass totally in Spanish was celebrated for the Spanish
speaking community in the area and throughout San Antonio. Three years ago,
a priest from Ireland was appointed as pastor of our church. It was obvious
from the beginning that the priest had no knowledge and less respect for
our language and culture – language being the reflection of culture. Little
by little he began to do away with the Spanish celebration of the Mass to
the point that the two readings were read in Spanish and the rest of the
Mass in English, including the Gospel and Homily.
I spoke with the priest
about our needs but to no avail. I then organized 12 parishioners whom I
knew felt the same way I did and began to plan ways in which we could reinstate
our tradition of the celebration totally in Spanish. We met head-on with
our pastor and were threatened with expulsion from the Church. We distributed
a petition with our demands, sent copies to the Archbishop, our Bishops and
the Provincial in Ireland. Three weeks later, the priest was replaced by
still another Irish priest who is more understanding and supportive. He is
now enrolled in Spanish classes and reads most of the celebration in Spanish.
In addition, a Spanish speaking priest visits our church every second and
fourth Sunday of the month. I suspect that by the next year, our priest will
be totally bilingual.” Alonso M. Perales
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