| | The Portland Catholic Archdiocese declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
This is the diocese that oversees the church my mom goes to and the
church I go to in my rare trips home. It is the first diocese
ever to declare bankruptcy in America. They (and their insurers)
have already paid out $53 million in abuse claim settlements, and there
is another claim that is going to trial where the plaintiffs are
seeking $160 million. The church simply has no money left.
Oregon is not a very wealthy area. Unemployment is high and
people in most jobs are quite underpaid. The little network of five
Catholic churches in my parents' county share only three priests
between them, so each priest leaves his home church once a month to
serve 10-20 miles away at one of the churches that doesn't have a
priest. Salaries for priests are low (in the mid $20,000s) and
the wages for other church employees are similar. Church
buildings are unspectacular and repairs are usually put off for years
before funds come through. There simply isn't much money in the
area.
So what do you do? Other dioceses in the nation have survived by
closing down churches and selling off church property, but distances
are so great in Oregon that this isn't very practical - you'd end up
with a lot of people who would simply not be able to make it to any
church. You could ask for a huge influx of generousity by the
congregations, but the constant negative media coverage and people
picketing churches have made many attenders feel worried and less
generous. And the recent economic problems hit Oregon especially
hard - the vast majority of people simply don't have much to give.
The fact that the whole system works this way has bothered me for some
time. Why is taking huge amounts of money expected to solve
something? Why is the focus on making the people suffer? If
priests or bishops did something wrong, they should go to jail, pure
and simple. Those who abused kids are obviously ending up in jail
already (in the portland case, the defendent passed away two years
ago). Those who aid them should also face strict criminal
punishments. But the American fascination with money has gotten
way out of hand. The fact that there are people who were victims
of abuse is horrible. Does having a bunch of millionaires who
were the victims of abuse make the world a better place? Does the
money really heal the pain in their lives? Or is it just bringing
more pain to others, on top of the pain they still feel?
Strive to do good in the world. Strive to eliminate evil, and
work to create an environment where evil is not welcome. But
don't repay evil with evil until everyone is suffering. We need
to find a better way. Our system should not work like this.
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| | Posted 7/6/2004 11:19 AM - 1 view - 1 comments
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