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- From: elendil@mintir.new-orleans.la.us (Edward J. Branley)
- Newsgroups: bit.listserv.catholic
- Subject: Re: contributions
- Keywords: money
- Message-ID: <aRLmwB2w165w@mintir.new-orleans.la.us>
- Date: Wed, 30 Dec 92 20:50:45 CST
- References: <C03GFG.4pq@unix.portal.com>
- Organization: Minas Tirith BBS (Public Access Usenet for New Orleans)
- Lines: 53
-
- zerucha@shell.portal.com (Thomas E Zerucha) writes:
-
- > I remember what happened a few years ago which gave me a perspective on
- > donations. A Baptist church ran into some financial trouble and our Archbish
- > gave them some money. This was at a time that churches were closing and othe
- > catholic charities did not have abundant funds. When asked why he did this,
- > the archbishop said, in effect, that it was not anybody else's busniess what
- > he did with the money. Needless to say, contributions dropped.
-
- that's a pretty cheeky attitude, even for a bishop...
-
- >
- > I think that parishes have two problems. 1. Most people don't know where th
- > money goes so there is no feedback as to how much need there is. 2. If they
- > did know some of the places, they would actively cut the paltry sums they giv
- > now.
-
- I dunno about this. If anything, the laity are becoming more and more active
- in parish affairs. Sure, you've still got pastors who rule with an iron hand,
- but they're literally a dying breed. Seems to me that it should be easier to
- see where the money goes in a parish that has a strong parish council.
-
- Of course, my pastor is the comptroller of the archdiocese, so he normally
- doesn't get much of a hard time when it comes to money <g>.
-
-
- >
- > Since I don't know the actual history, I have to go on some anecdotes from
- > my parents, but in the past, the local church did a lot in the way of helping
- > the poor, running schools, and anything leftover might go to missions or
- > religous orders where it would directly do good. Right now, if I want to
- > support a soup kitchen, retired religous, or missions, I have to give directl
- > to them. Today, the dollars that go into the collection plate are equally
- > likely to go into something non or pseudo catholic as to something that will
- > bolster the Church.
-
- How the money gets spent is only an issue if you want to know about the portion
- of the funds that goes to the diocese. If you have lights on at Mass, the
- air conditioning is running (no small concern here in New Orleans), and the
- school is operating, you can rest assured that the money is being spent
- properly.
-
- If you find out that money going to the diocese is being spent in an improper
- manner, raise a fuss. If your parish agrees, perhaps you can do something
- about curtailing your contribution to the central administration. We have so
- many independent second collections here in New Orleans, it's pretty easy to
- pick and choose what you want to support.
-
-
-
-
- |Edward J. Branley elendil@mintir.new-orleans.la.us|
- |Seashell Software, Metairie, LA +1-504-455-5087|
-