Michael Brown at the Spirit Daily web site offers his opinion on how the Archdiocese of Boston, and dioceses in general, should handle parish closings and what they are doing wrong. But he’s a little off in his assessment.
One solution is the obvious: to reduce bureaucratic costs and diocesan budget items that are not spiritually oriented or absolutely essential, especially those that replicate federal or other governmental programs. The time has come to cut down on the huge chanceries, elaborate dinners, media programs, committees, and limousines. Chanceries have to go bare bones; it will bolster them spiritually.
For one thing, the first thing we did was sell off the huge chanceries and extra property. For another thing, the archdiocesan staff and budget are already pretty bare-bones. It has been cut and cut again over the past few years. That’s not to say that there aren’t offices I’d like to see re-vamped, but the ones that remain are almost all ones that go to the basic mission of the Church. If Brown thinks there’s fat in the Boston budget, then he isn’t paying close attention.
