No more pay and obey
A guest column by a Catholic upset over the Spokane Diocese bankruptcy settlement ran today.
Here are excerpts:
This "pay, pray, obey" Catholic has had it. In the May 3, 2007, issue of the Inland Register, the official newspaper of the Spokane Diocese, I clipped six and a half pages about how and why the collection of $10 million from parishioners is expected to pay around 20 percent of the court-ordered settlement for the crimes of sex abuse by priests against children and others over the past 40 or so years.We are told we are "collectively responsible," that each parish has been assigned a significant debt over and above what has been confiscated from the diocese...In other words, "pay up or else."
The final straw came when I read (page A7, The Spokesman-Review, May 5) that people in St. Mary's Parish have been asked to give $1,000 per household and to use a credit card if they can't write a check...Let those who are assisting the diocese pay extra for the privilege! Outrageous!
--Pamela Small, 70, lifelong Catholic.
Would welcome feedback on this guest column from other Catholics in the area.