Here’s a tricky situation. Parents of students at a Catholic school scheduled to be closed are suing the Boston archdiocese. They want control of $200,000 raised for the school over the past couple of years to open a new independent school. The archdiocese says the money became part of the parish’s general finances and thus the money will be folded into the archdiocese’s general fund. This is complicated.
On the one hand, there is a law that says that money donated for a specific purpose must be used for that purpose, and with the closing of the school the money should be returned to donors. And, it could be argued that a new independent school is not the same donation purpose as the original school, so the parents shouldn’t get control of the money either.
I’m afraid the law will be on the side of the archdiocese in this.
Problems like this abound: if in 1950, I helped to build a Church with $100 for the 6th station of the cross “Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus”, since the Church is being closed, do I get it as a memento?
Ya know – regardless of what the law says – is it not the right thing to use the money raised for a school for the children for whom it was raised? Isn’t that just the honest and fair thing to do? This is the kind of thing that makes ordinary Catholic moms and dads feel like pawns in the bishops’ games (just like with the homosexual molestation scandal…)
That’s assuming that the people starting this new school actually represent all of the people who raised the money or the parents of the children for whom it was raised and assuming that the independent school will adhere to the Catholic values of the original school. Sometimes it’s more complicated than reflexively blaming the bishops in every case or finding an analogy with the Scandal.
Yes, Dom – but most likely the people who want to start the new school are primarily of the people or the community whose kids went to the old school. And as for reflexively blaming the bishiops, I do – and I’ve been forced to learn to. For they are at fault with almost all of the endemic and horrific problems in our Church. Here’s the thing – in the scandal, most NORMAL people would put the welfare of children first with regard to homosexually molesting priests. In this, most NORMAL people would see that money raised for kids for a school should be used for those kids or their local community. In many ways, many of our bishops are sub-NORMAL. That’s what’s so shocking to so many Catholics.
Sinner, you’re making an unwarranted assumption about the motives of the people. We don’t know the true motives.
As for reflexively blaming the bishops, they don’t just appear out of nowhere. They are a product of the culture, a culture that is a cesspool, not because bishops made it that way, but because all of us have made it that way. As Mark Shea says, we get the bishops we deserve because we have created the environment in which they were created. (That “we” is a general we, not specific to any individual. Many of us individually are doing what we can, but we are few and they are many.)
Truly, Dom, I’m not making an unwarranted assumption about their motives – for I have no idea what they are. But when people give money for a school, and the school goes kaput – then either refund their money, or put it into the replacement school. But the taking of the money by the organization which closed the school! – Seems like theft (and a violantion of a prime commandment) to me. – And on the bishops. Sure – we are all products of our culture. But the Church is chock full of holy and good and unafraid priests who are good teachers and good shepherds, and willing to take a stand for Christ and his Church – and against sin and evil. Why are they so rarely promoted to bishop? (Probably answer – the Church is looking for good ‘managers’ – people who will keep controversies from flaring – people who will keep up the numbers [people and money], people who will put a good ‘face’ on the Church, people who are ‘nuanced’ , people who will keep scandal under cover, etc. etc. etc.] The only problem – Jesus Christ wasn’t like that. Me thinks, personally, we need far more bishops who bear some general resemblance (in thought, soul and deed) to our Savior.
Me thinks, personally, we need far more bishops who bear some general resemblance (in thought, soul and deed) to our Savior.
On that, we are in agreement.