Special rights and privileges

Special rights and privileges

The fundraising flacks in the Dallas diocese invited D Magazine publisher Wick Allison to contribute to the annual Appeal. He was invited to give $1,200 and given a reason why:

These individuals are accorded special rights as specified by the Bishop [note: when it comes to meting out “rights,” there is suddenly only one bishop]. One privilege is receiving a special invitation to the Bishop’s Guild Dinner held annually in August.

Wick wonders what those “rights” and “privileges” might be. (By the way, I disagree with his contention that the local community must be consulted before a bishop is appointed.) Later on, he prints an email response he got from a reader:

Do you mean to tell me that the Bishop is offering special access to top contributors? What about all that blatherskite from Grahmann supporters complaining that the Committee of Concerned Catholics are just a bunch of spoiled Richie Riches who think their opinion should count more than Pearly Mae Pewsitter’s? Hells bells, you’ve got it straight from the chancery that as far as Grahmann and Galante are concerned, the well-off do merit more access.

Oops, is that inconsistency coming from a bishop’s office? I guess that rich people only merit special access if they’re lock-step supporters of the bishop and their opinions don’t count if they’re not.

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