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CIRCULAR TO PARISHIONERS WEEK 40 - MARCH 05, 2005
The bishop’s letter of Second Sunday of Lent (delivered physically on 19-20
February, and delivered verbally at all Masses on Saturday/Sunday 26-27 February)
has spurred quite a response from the parishioners of St. Martin of Tours. A large
number of letters has been sent to the bishop, with copies forwarded to
“saveourparish”. Two weeks later and … the FLOOD continues:
Dear Bishop,
1. You said that the people handing out flyers after Mass stop cars to offer the flyer.
You are wrong. They do not 'stop' cars. Some people ignore them. They do not
'stop' these people. Other people voluntarily stop their cars to take a flyer.
2. While this activity may be "causing aggravation to many people", let it be noted
that it is nothing compared to the aggravation caused by the pastor almost from the
time he came to the parish. I speak from personal experience.
3. You also said that handing out the flyers "causes considerable danger in impeding
the flow of traffic". You are, again, wrong. There is no impediment to traffic caused
by the people handing out flyers. Sometimes, the incoming traffic for the noon Mass
conflicts with the outgoing traffic from the 10.30am Mass. It has nothing to do with
the handing out of flyers. Look inside the church, not outside it, for reasons.
4. Your statement about "confrontational attitudes" is a bit misplaced. The
confrontation originated with the pastor. We were a calm, happy parish before he
arrived. He seems to have set out to destroy that, and he has succeeded.
5. Now, what's this business about "the process of education and preparation for a
parish council"? We have had councils before -- for years on end. Why then do we
need "education and preparation"? Your next paragraph suggests that, unless we
cease all this activity, there may not be a parish council. I do hope I am wrong about
this point. Finally, about the council, may I refer you to your letter to this parish
dated 23 June 2004? In it you stated “a parish council will soon be established".
How soon is “soon”?
6. We parishioners would love to hear the other side of this affair. We would love to
meet with you and/or the pastor. We tried to meet with him last year, but he did not
show up. We said the Rosary. When do you and/or the pastor intend to meet with
us?
7. Lastly, do you think that now that the 2005 Share Life campaign has started, you
could persuade the pastor to tell us how much was collected in 2004? Also, do you
think you could persuade him to publish the accounts of the finances of the parish?
We have long been accustomed to this. Why has it stopped? We give the money.
Do we not deserve an accounting? Please do not produce a homily on this subject.
Just let us know how our money is being spent. (Letter from) DON HOFFLAND.
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Your Grace,
Your general letter addressed to the parishioners deserves some comment. It has
been eight months since you last communicated with the parishioners and I am
disappointed to say that division and discontent in the church still exists and your
involvement in resolving the problems has been marginal or non-existent at best.
What amazes me is that so much time has passed and many issues have not been
resolved… The St Vincent de Paul Society, parish council, finance committee, the
choir, and the expulsion of the Knights. We are going into another Easter season
with more problems than we had last Easter. Every church has a parish council, why
has ours taken so long? Seems to me elections were held in war ravaged Iraq a lot
faster than in our parish to elect a parish council. Has the diocese lost control of our
church, or is it the pastor who is telling the diocese what to do, or simply put does the
diocese care at all about St. Martins? Is the diocese hoping that by ignoring the
problem the parishioners will tire out and forget about it? Rest assured these
parishioners will keep on knocking on the door and one day the Good Lord will guide
someone to open it.
Recently the diocese encouraged parishioners to write to their local MPs on the issue
of gay marriages. The view of the diocese was that if many people wrote to our
Members of Parliament our collective opposition to the Bill would count. How is it
that when numerous parishioners have written to you and the Cardinal we seldom get
a reply, not even a visit to the parish? The politicians will sooner or later be
accountable to their constituents. Too bad the church is not a democracy!!!
(Letter from) LUCINA & GODFREY PINTO.
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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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(EXTRACT FROM) OPEN LETTER TO JOHN A BOISSONNEAU, AUXILIARY BISHOP WESTERN REGION
Bishop Boissonneau:
From the very beginning of this painful and unpleasant saga, it would appear that you
were involved and complicit in allowing this turmoil to worsen and get out of hand.
Instead of “nipping the problem in the bud” as we expected you would do, with due
reverence and respect to you as an individual and your office as auxiliary bishop, you
appeared instead, as we soon learned, to be acting like the typical career cleric
defending the institutional church. Despite the severe criticisms and condemnations
again and again by learned critics (cleric and lay) it seems that people like you will
never allow transparent governance in the Church to develop for the true benefit of
ALL the members of the Church – clerical and laity. As long as this situation is
allowed to exist in the church, the evil spawned by arrogance, indifference, injustice
and, perhaps, blindness, will in due course destroy the Church.
Almost 4 years into your tenure as auxiliary bishop and lacking in true pastoral
experience at the lowest level of Christ’s Church where the real people of God exist,
you have turned an issue of dealing with a problem dictatorial priest into destroying a
happy stable parish. (Letter from) DUNSTAN A. BAZELY
Comment: Today’s Responsorial Psalm response is - “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing that I
want”.
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Parish Council
The “Bishop’s Corner” in the Parish bulletin is to educate us in preparation for the establishment of a Parish
Council.
To assist in this education, over the coming weeks we will publish information from official Archdiocesan
guidelines.
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ARCHDIOCESE OF TORONTO GUIDELINES FOR PARISH COUNCILS
Five items in this document are so fundamental that they cannot be ignored without destroying the very
possibility of having an effective Parish Council. These five items are mandatory and, therefore, each parish
must observe their meaning and spirit:
1 There shall be an active and representative Parish Council in every parish of the Archdiocese of
Toronto. Every person in the parish eighteen years of age and over is eligible for election or appointment as
a member.
The purpose of the Parish Council is to advise and assist the parish priest in the service of the Church.
2 In each parish the authority of the Bishop is vested in the Pastor as the ultimate authority and leader. The
Parish Council, therefore, may render advice and assistance to the parish priest, and may offer him urgent
recommendations. In truly urgent cases all Catholics have the right to appeal to Episcopal authority, but
whatever the issue, it should be first discussed with the parish priest.
3 The members of the Parish Council shall be chosen by election. For this purpose, a nominating
committee shall be appointed to hold elections.
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Next week we will present the two remaining essential elements from the Archdiocesan “Guidelines for
Parish Councils”.
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CARING AND SHARING
We have a Christian obligation to support and fund charitable endeavours. Today, many people are making a
change in their pattern of giving, to recognize priorities of needs and to identify with specific registered
charities. Here are examples of worthy organisations:
1. Catholic Missions in Canada, 201-1155 Yonge St., Toronto, Ont. M4T 1W2
2. St. Vincent de Paul Society, 240 Church St., Toronto, Ont. M5B 1Z2
3. Birthright Mississauga, 307-2600 Edenhurst, Mississauga, Ont. L5A 3Z8
4. Dr.Simone’s Canadian Food for Children, 40 King George Rd. Toronto, ON M8X 1L3
5. Ian Anderson House, 430 Winston Churchill Blvd. Oakville, Ont. L6J 7X2
6. Solidarite-Sud (Haiti), c/o Maison Alonzo Wright, 2425A St-Louis St., Gatineau QC J8V 1E7
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