CIRCULAR TO PARISHIONERS WEEK 61 - JULY 30, 2005
A PARISHIONER'S LETTER
I have considered leaving this parish for my own well-being because the injustices and lack of charity of this
pastor (and the inaction of the hierarchy) have made me doubt whether God cares.
When good people I know have been shamefully treated, I wanted to fight for their God-given rights and not
let such behaviour flourish. But now, after reading the Gospels and meditating on the words and actions of
Christ, I (as a long-standing parishioner) am inspired to follow Christ’s lead and change my reason for
action to a higher plane. Instead of fighting for love of my community, I am inspired to act for the love of
the Father, to preserve His honour here on this little bit of earth that is St. Martin’s Parish. “The zeal for
Your house has eaten me up”.
Now it is no longer our fight but God’s, for He is being dishonoured.
If the ecclesiastical church ( i.e. the hierarchy) will not protect itself from the evil within (for that is what it
is), then it is left to the church – we, the humble members of the Mystical Body of Christ - to defend His
honour. For that is what we, the laity, are – according to documents from Vatican II.
If we leave, we abandon Christ when the going gets tough. God works through people. This is a righteous
fight. If our pastor refuses to act as a pastor (a shepherd, a spiritual guide), he must leave, not us. When
the pastor asks a parishioner to choose between loyalty to him or to others (as he did at the Communion
during Mass recently), it takes courage to choose God’s way. But that is what Jesus did when confronted
by the Pharisees again and again.
Christ will give us all the courage we need to do His work. All He needs is our fiat (decree/sanction).
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RIGHTS v RESPONSIBILITIES: "I see no further need to communicate with you"
Parishioners of St. Martin of Tours have been generous to a fault with their time and their monetary
contributions since the inception of the parish. The fact that parish finances have eroded drastically of late is
of grave concern to them. Financial figures offered, particularly for 2004, have been confusing, incomplete,
evasive and troubling. Many parishioners have unsuccessfully sought answers to questions on the financial
statements, both from the Chancery Office and from the chair of the parish Finance Council, Ed Beaudry.
Their legitimate questions and concerns have been met at the chancery level with evasive replies such as “I’
ve forwarded them to Bishop Boissonneau”. Are members of the accountancy profession not accountable
to a higher standard than this? Since when does Bishop Boissonneau answer financial questions regarding a
parish?
At the parish level there are many unanswered questions:
• What are the required standards of accountability and who is meant to enforce them, even minimally?
• Is it acceptable to withhold answers from contributing parishioners to questions on the financial
statements? "You are seriously mistaken if you think that I would consider a response to your financial
questions”.
• Is it acceptable to ignore parishioners’ requests for information? “I feel no further need to continue
with this dialogue. Do not trouble me any further”
.
• Is it acceptable for the chair of the Finance Council to cast up to a parishioner the amount of his/her
envelope donation? Envelopes are numbered and donations are given on the expectation of confidentiality.
• Is this a breach of professional standards and does the release of confidential donation information
contravene the Government’s Privacy Act?
• Is it a conflict of interest for someone who is a government employee to possess parishioners’
confidential information and use it irresponsibly? For example, telling one parishioner in writing that another
(named) parishioner does not contribute. “As you are well aware, you and (name withheld) have not been
providing financial support to the church for some time now”
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For more information, contact: Aisling Egan 416 671-4710
Pat DeAngelis 416 809-1819 Duncan Walker 905 277-9825
Lucy Pires 905 273-6093 Dunstan Bazely 905 275-3946
Judy Byrnes 905 275-1536 Patricia Russell 905 279-9205
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Email: bishop.boissonneau@rogers.com Fax: 416 207-4984.
ambrozic@archtoronto.org Fax: 416 934-3452 .
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