Parishioners petition Gerry
Portland Catholics want more input, finanical records
Copyright © 2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
Members of South Portland's two Roman Catholic churches are collecting signatures on a letter asking Bishop Joseph Gerry to open his diocese's financial books and allow parishes to elect a lay advisory board.
In addition, the letter requests a "written plan for dealing with the current crisis in the diocese of Portland."
Members of parishes in Portland and Windham have also sent or are preparing letters to Gerry, signifying a relatively broad concern among rank-and-file parishioners about the church's handling of the priest sex abuse scandal.
More than 300 people signed the letter at Sunday Masses at Holy Cross and St. John the Evangelist churches in South Portland. Those who gathered the signatures — including the chairman of the joint pastoral council — will collect more next Sunday and then send the letter to Gerry.
While others have written to Gerry about the priest sex abuse scandal and how the diocese is handling it, the South Portland letter would be the first to come signed by members of a parish.
The Roman Catholic church, including the Portland diocese, has come under fire since last winter for covering up known cases of sexual abuse by priests, transferring some of those priests to new parishes and failing to support victims of abuse. Critics have also assailed the church for having a culture of secrecy and hierarchy that shuts lay Catholics out of decision-making.
Voice of the Faithful, a Catholic reform group with members in many parishes, sent letters to Gerry in July asking how he will deal with the crisis and demanding more lay participation in church decision-making.
A group of parishioners at Sacred Heart/ St. Dominic Church in Portland is working to draft a letter to Gerry, and the pastoral council at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Windham sent a letter to the diocese in April asking for a conference of lay leaders to discuss the crisis that unfolded last winter.
The South Portland letter proposes that Gerry prepare a written plan for dealing with the crisis and communicate with Catholics directly, rather than through the media.
It also asks that a group of elected lay representatives from each parish meet with Gerry and other priests regularly "to develop plans and recommendations for meeting the needs of the Church in the twenty-first century."
And it requests detailed annual reports and financial statements from the diocese.
"I think the group wanted there to be some accountability for where our money is going," said Scott Ewing, a eucharistic minister at Holy Cross who heads the joint pastoral council of both churches and the finance council.
Some church members have expressed concern about church spending on legal settlements in sex abuse cases.
The letter was distributed through the weekly bulletin to the 1,000-plus people who attended Mass at Holy Cross and St. John the Evangelist churches two Sundays ago and was announced briefly at masses.
The letter grew out of listening sessions held over the summer at the two churches to discuss the priest sexual abuse scandal, the response of the Catholic church as a whole and the Portland diocese in particular.
Twenty to 30 members participated in follow-up meetings to draft a letter to the bishop.
"It really grew out of the needs of our parishioners to express how they feel," said Ewing. He said the letter is not intended as a challenge to Gerry. Earlier versions of the letter were more confrontational but were toned down "because we hope this is the beginning of a dialogue with the bishop and his people."
Sue Bernard, spokeswoman for the Portland diocese, said neither she nor Gerry had seen the letter or knew about it until asked about it by a reporter. She said it would be premature to comment.
Bernard said Msgr. Marc Caron, co-chancellor of the Portland diocese, welcomed the suggestion for creating an annual finance report for the diocese. "He said that sounds like a good idea, it's been brought up before."
She cautioned, though, that the budget does not include details of legal fees and settlements, since those are covered by insurance.
Bernard said Gerry has received letters from the parishes in Madawaska and Ellsworth, but in both cases those were specific to the removal of their priests for past allegations of sexual misconduct.
The only other letter she is aware of is one that Voice of the Faithful sent with a list of 14 questions about how Gerry plans to handle the current crisis and requesting more involvement by laity in the running of the church.
"The bishop is still working on a response to that," Bernard said.
The reform group's members and members of various parishes around the state have expressed frustration that Gerry and the diocese have not bothered to reply to their individual letters.
In the South Portland letter, parishioners write: "We hope and pray that we, as members of the Body of Christ, can expect your early written reply, so that we can again concentrate on our Catholic and apostolic mission."
Father Paul Coughlin, priest of the two parishes in South Portland, convened the listening sessions that led to the letters at the request of several parishioners. He asked Ewing to lead the sessions and attended them, he said, but did not oversee the drafting of the letter.
He gave permission to the lay group to distribute the proposed letter in the weekly bulletin, along with a note to parishioners explaining the letter and inviting comment.
Ewing has attended meetings of Voice of the Faithful in Portland, but said his group is strictly a parish-based effort. "We wanted the bishop to hear our feelings and not have it wrapped up in any other group's label," he said.
The Rev. James F. Keenan, a moral theologian at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass. said the request for financial information may be the most significant part of the letter.
"I think that ... a number of lay organizations are really recognizing the only way they can become involved in the decision-making polices is to see how money is being administered," he said.
Ewing said he hopes the bishop does not view the letter as a threat.
"Our intent is to express our feelings and to ask to work more closely with him," Ewing said. "And to hear more directly from him what the diocese is doing to respond to the crisis."