Bishop Kearney cutting staff

This report from RNews ...

Bishop Kearney High School is cutting 10 faculty, staff or administrator positions because of a drop in enrollment for next year.

Parents were told of the layoffs in a letter.

Bishop Kearney President and CEO Donna Dedee said many families have been hit by the economic downturn and fewer students have enrolled at Bishop Kearney next year.

Dedee said tuition accounts for 80 percent of the school's revenue. She also said there will be additional cuts to the overall operating budget, but the changes will not impact the students' academic program.

Dedee said Catholic high schools throughout the district are experiencing declines and implementing similar reductions.

A similar story on the Channel 10 site reports that 7 of the layoffs involve teachers.  It adds that

projections show Kearney may lose 60 to 70 students in the high school next fall and 20 in the junior high.

Basic math and the DOR

The current Parish-by-Parish CMA report available on dor.org begins with the following statement:

As of June 11, 2009, total commitments equal $5,001,563 or 92.79% of the $5.39 million diocesan goal. Thank you for your support.

However, when one adds up the actual amounts in the spreadsheet, one ends up with totals that differ significantly from those in DOR's statement.

Commitments as listed in the spreadsheet actually add up to $4,872,587.99, while the "goals" (DOR doublespeak for assessments) actually total some $5,294,737.00. Using these numbers, the percentage figure becomes 92.03.

The difference in total commitments is $128,975.01 while the difference in total assessments is $95,263.00.

And just to muddy the waters a bit more, it needs to be kept in mind that this report does not include data for Peace of Christ Parish. Early Parish-by-Parish reports gave PoC's assessment as $118,381.

In the words of Yogi Berra, "Go figure."

CMA Final(?)

The 2008-09 Catholic Ministries Appeal was slated to end on May 31 and any payments received after that date were supposed to be credited to next year's drive. DOR, however, has thus far posted two updates this month, the first dated June 9 and the second June 11. A $1,000 pledge (and, presumably, payment) received from a parishioner in Wayne County is the only difference between the two.

The Big Picture

Overall, the 2008-09 CMA has raised 90.72% of its goal, meaning that it has fallen some $502,138 short of its target.

The June 11 update also contains information not seen before. In addition to the total pledges recorded for each parish, this update for the first time reports the total dollar amount actually collected from each parish.

This new information shows that 36* out of 130* parishes have actually met or exceeded their CMA assessments, with the other 94 parishes coming up short.

Of those 36 parishes in the plus column, 7 exceeded their assessments by 10% or more, and 2 exceeded their assessments by $10,000 or more. Overall, those 36 parishes gave $81,273 more than their combined assessments.

Of the 94 parishes that came up short, 76 missed by at least 10% and 29 still owe DOR $10,000 or more. Overall, those 94 parishes fell some $709,837 short of their combined assessments.

Excluding Peace of Christ Parish, 33,451 parishioners in 129 parishes pledged a total of $4,745,937 and all but $79,764 of that amount was actually collected. The average parishioner pledge was $141.88 and the average parishioner actual payment was $139.46

Finally, 468 individuals and members of non-parish faith communities donated another $126,426, for an average gift from this group of $270.14.

Monroe County parishes that kept their schools have outperformed those that did not

The Monroe County parishes that lost their schools last June lagged significantly behind those that kept theirs. Overall, the "Kept Schools" group had pledges running at 99.5% of CMA assessment while the "Lost Schools" group's pledges were at 84.8%. Had the latter group been pledging at the same rate as the former their overall pledges would have been about $112,900 higher than they actually were.

Individual MCCS parishes

Data for 10 of the 11 Monroe County parishes that kept their schools were reported by DOR. (Peace of Christ Parish was not included, as explained below*.) Half of these parishes reached their CMA assessments and pledges at all but 2 were at or above the diocesan average. In addition, only 1 of these parishes was $10,000 or more short of its assessment: Christ the King ($11,283 short).

12 of the 13 Monroe County parishes that lost their schools are still in existence. Only 2 of this group reached their CMA assessments and all but 2 were below the diocesan average. Furthermore, 7 of these parishes were $10,000 or more short of their assessments. These parishes (and their shortages) were St. Margaret Mary ($10,030), St. Andrew ($10,682), Good Shepherd ($11,008), St. Theodore ($11,505), St. John the Evangelist ($11,585), Holy Trinity ($17,941) and St. John of Rochester ($24,113).

__________

*Data for Peace of Christ Parish is not being reported by DOR but is included here. The parish has combined its CMA drive with a parish fund drive, which means that the parish turns over the full amount of its assessment and is credited with reaching 100.00%. Although Peace of Christ has been dropped as a line item, it was included in a couple of the early Parish-by-Parish reports and its assessment was then listed as $118,381.

Holy Cross celebrates St. Anthony of Padua

In a parish tradition that is older than anyone can remember, Holy Cross Church in Charlotte celebrated the feast of St. Anthony of Padua yesterday evening.

The church was nearly full as Fr. Fred Eisemann celebrated the entire Mass - except for the homily - in Italian, with both Frs. Tom Wheeland and John Reif concelebrating.

Following the Mass many of the congregation gathered in a light rain around the shrine of St. Anthony for the traditional blessing of the St. Anthony's Bread and recitation of the Litany of St. Anthony.

Len Hawley, who has been entertaining Rochester audiences for over 60 years, provided the music at the wine-and-cheese reception which followed.

Slideshow ...

A new voice in DOR

Cleansing Fire launched yesterday. Its masthead bills it as

A blog dedicated to Roman Catholic Orthodoxy, Proper Liturgy and Catholic culture. The intent of this blog is to bring various liturgical abuses and abuses of power in the lay-run Church to light, especially in Rochester, New York.

Check it out here.

"A grave error"

About two-thirds of the way through my nearly 30 year hiatus from the Church Pope John Paul II made a apostolic journey to the United States. According to the USCCB His Holiness visited 9 cities over a 10 day span in the fall of 1987.

Being a life-long, avid news watcher I'm sure I was aware of his presence in the country at the time and, being uninterested in anything religious at that time, I'm just as sure I didn't pay any attention to what he was saying.

It's now almost 21 years later and I just came across part of JPII's message. The occasion was a meeting with the American bishops held in a Los Angeles seminary on Wednesday, September 16, 1987.

Several portions of His Holiness' address are remarkable for their candor. Excerpts follow ...

• It is sometimes reported that a large number of Catholics today do not adhere to the teaching of the Church on a number of questions, notably sexual and conjugal morality, divorce and remarriage. Some are reported as not accepting the Church’s clear position on abortion. It has also been noted that there is a tendency on the part of some Catholics to be selective in their adherence to the Church’s moral teachings. It is sometimes claimed that dissent from the Magisterium is totally compatible with being a "good Catholic" and poses no obstacle to the reception of the sacraments. This is a grave error that challenges the teaching office of the bishops of the United States and elsewhere. I wish to encourage you in the love of Christ to address this situation courageously in your pastoral ministry, relying on the power of God’s truth to attract assent and on the grace of the Holy Spirit which is given both to those who proclaim the message and to those to whom it is addressed.
  
  We must also constantly recall that the teaching of Christ’s Church - like Christ himself - is a "sign of contradiction". It has never been easy to accept the Gospel teaching in its entirety, and it never will be. The Church is committed, both in faith and morals, to make her teaching as clear and understandable as possible, presenting it in all the attractiveness of divine truth. And yet the challenge of the Gospel remains inherent in the Christian message transmitted to each generation. (No. 5)
  
  
• [T]he Church is a community of faith. To accept faith is to give assent to the word of God as transmitted by the Church’s authentic Magisterium. Such assent constitutes the basic attitude of the believer, and is an act of the will as well as of the mind. (No. 6)
  
  
• Speaking on your behalf, [San Francisco's] Archbishop Quinn has shown full awareness of the seriousness of the challenge facing your teaching ministry. He has spoken of the dual task of the conversion of the mind and the conversion of the heart. The way to the heart very often passes through the mind, and throughout the length and breadth of the Church there is need today for a new effort of evangelization and catechesis directed to the mind. Elsewhere I have mentioned the relationship between the Gospel and culture. Here I wish to underline the importance of the formation of the mind at every level of Catholic life. (No. 7)
  
  
• We serve our laity best when we make every effort to provide for them, and in collaboration with them, a comprehensive and solid programme of catechesis with the aim of “maturing the initial faith and of educating the true disciple of Christ by means of a deeper and more systematic knowledge of the person and the message of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ioannis Pauli PP. II Catechesi Tradendae, 19). Such a programme will also assist them in developing that habit of discernment which can distinguish the spirit of the world from the Spirit of God, and which can distinguish authentic culture from elements that degrade human dignity. It can provide them a solid basis for growing in their knowledge and love of Jesus Christ through continual conversion and personal commitment to the demands of the Gospel. (No. 10)

If our local ordinary was in attendance the last two decades show no evidence he was taking notes.

Our Lady of Victory Promo

This speaks for itself ...

Tip: David F.