Following on the speculation, the Archdiocese of Boston has confirmed that spokeswoman Donna Morrisey has left her post.
Donna Morrissey, spokeswoman for the Boston archdiocese during the clergy sex abuse scandal, has left the job she publicly described as a ‘‘nightmare’’ that regularly reduced her to tears.
The Rev. Christopher Coyne, who has replaced Morrissey on an interim basis, would not say if Morrissey resigned or was fired. ‘‘We would never disclose something like that,’’ he said.
Translation: She was fired. Okay, I can’t say that definitively, but why wouldn’t he just say she resigned if she did?
Morrissey was a good woman doing an impossible job. She often seemed to be the last person to find out anything, and it seemed the lawyers were dictating all the moves. I can’t imagine having to do the job she had to do.
In a March speech to the Boston chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, Morrissey called the scandal a ‘‘public relations nightmare,’’ adding that information often wasn’t shared with her or couldn’t be released because it was confidential. ... “There’s times when I go home and ... I cry and sob,” she said.
Oh yeah, if anyone from the archdiocese is reading this, I’m not interested in the job.
Couple o’ things, Mark.
Since Donna left her job—what, at least two weeks ago?—and since you don’t seem to have noticed it until it was pointed out to you via this blog, and that via the Boston Globe, I’ve gotta wonder: what makes you an authority on the “PR game,” stellar or otherwise? No offense, just curious.
I’m also curious as to why the amount o’ money the lady earned makes you wonder how she could face herself. Has it become suddenly sinful to earn a good salary?
I’ve seen the lady in action, Sunday after Sunday, and I think MORE than earned her money.
When, for example, some of us objected to having to literally, trip over cameras in order to receive Communion at our own parish, it was _Donna_ who threw them out.
When we found it disconcerting to be hounded by reporters upon entering the vestibule, it was _Donna_ who mandated the “no interviews in the church” rule.
I can go on, but this isn’t my blog.
The point is, she never looked at it as a “game.”
Her clients weren’t just the hierarchy of the Archdiocese of Boston…they also included its parishioners.
I’ll miss seeing Donna Morrissey kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament, often an hour before Sunday Mass began…praying, I’ve no doubt, for strength—and for us.
Most of all, I’ll miss her “what can I do to help make this less miserable” attitude toward the 300 parishioners of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
I’m grateful to Donna Morrissey. She did the Archdiocese of Boston a good service.
And I wish her the best o’ luck…like, maybe, a job where she isn’t photographed with a sign reading “shame” over her head.
Thanks, Donna. We appreciate what you’ve done. God speed.
Kelly Clark
Hi Colleen,
I don’t know that bishops/cardinals actually employ spokesmen…I guess my question is, why do dioceses need spokesmen? To me, the spokesmen for dioceses are, or should be, the bishops. Although GOR makes an interesting point!
Hi Mark,
Thank you for telling us that you’ve got a “PR-related” job in Boston.
And that in your opinion, Donna’s services weren’t worth her salary.
And I know that you’ve “heard” a few things.
Now, see, here’s where possibly you and I differ. Personally, I tend to stick with things I’ve witnessed first hand…leaving what’s been “heard” to—well, clairvoyants and the like.
I wish you much luck in your PR-related career! Although, I must confess that, here you’ve got an advantage over me…I have no idea what “PR-related” job is. I’m in plain old garden variety advertising, myself. Not “advertising-related.” Just advertising.
Kelly Clark
Alden & Clark, Inc., Boston
P.S. Who said Donna Morrissey was Bernadette of Lourdes…or a candidate for beatification? I hadn’t heard that. But again, I leave the “hearing” o’ things to clairvoyants and such.
Alright folks, let’s let that be the last word. Any more posts in this vein will be deleted. If you feel like tossing hand grenades in the lifeboat, you continue to do it in email to one another.