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NOTICE: Aside from 17+ years of fruitless, often ignored correspondence, key portions of which are contained and commented upon herein, this website is not in any way connected to or affiliated with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), formerly the NCCB/USCC.
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Greetings:
In a perfect world, the two simulated newspaper headlines depicted above would have actually appeared more or less as shown. Then again, in a perfect world, neither of those headlines would have been necessary because the tragic situation they so accurately describe would never have been allowed to exist. Unfortunately, we live in an imperfect world filled with imperfect people. This website was developed by one of those less-than-perfect people for the purpose of focusing attention on a pernicious, Church-wide condition in desperate need of a cure.
For the past 20 years, the author, a retired federal law enforcement official with significant experience in the field of financial audit and internal security, has been concerned with the fact that the average Catholic parish’s principal source of revenue, the Sunday collection, is highly susceptible to repetitive (weekly) surreptitious/covert theft. During that time, he has made numerous attempts to cause the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to recognize that fact and to initiate appropriate corrective measures. For reasons best known to the American hierarchy, however, they refuse to even admit a problem exists, let alone take any action to correct it.
When it became apparent to the author that the overriding issue is not the millions of dollars lost annually to Sunday collection thefts but rather the sins and occasions of sin which flow from those thefts, he repeatedly attempted to convey that revelation to the American bishops. Unfortunately, all of his pleas fell upon seemingly deaf ears.
Finally, as a last resort, the author reluctantly took the next logical step and, on February 14, 2001 presented his case to The Holy See in the person of then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. The author’s presentation consisted of a one-page transmittal letter, a four-page petition, and more than 100 pages of supporting documents, many of which are posted at this website.
In a two-sentence reply dated March 30, 2001 Archbishop Csaba Ternyak, Secretary for the Congregation for the Clergy, advised the author that “security of the ‘Sunday Collection’ is something that would fall under the competency of the local Bishop” and that the Holy See was therefore declining to take any action in the matter. It is important to note that, at the time of his reply, Archbishop Ternyak knew he was merely echoing the totally illogical and thoroughly discredited position clung to by the American Conference for the past ten years, and that Canon Law specifically includes the means by which Conferences can obtain Vatican authorization to issue “general decrees” for Conference-wide implementation.
For the edification of those who care about the fiscal well-being of their own parish, diocese or archdiocese (not to mention the moral well-being of their fellow parishioners) the author’s transmittal letter and petition, Archbishop Ternyak’s reply, and the author’s follow-up appeal have been added to this website. Those documents may be accessed via the menu bar beginning with Vatican Transmittal. Following the Vatican correspondence, you will find a stunning example of the current state of Sunday collection security, and selected correspondence that clearly establishes the Sunday collection’s extreme vulnerability as well as the hierarchy’s steadfast resistance to readily available corrective measures.
It is a sad state of affairs, indeed, when the shepherds turn their backs on the flock and allow the wolves to have their way, but that is exactly what the U. S. hierarchy’s knowing and willful inaction represents. The fact that the American hierarchy’s totally illogical and long-discredited position has now been sanctioned by The Holy See is nothing short of astounding!
Because the hierarchy refuses to admit that collection funds are not being adequately protected, we can only speculate as to their reasons for not adopting and implementing secure procedures. Certainly, fear must constitute one aspect of their reluctance - fear of publicity when a significant number of parishes register a sudden increase in their collections, and fear of rebellion by pastors who, under secure procedures, would be denied access to uncounted collection funds. In that regard, it is relevant to note that collection theft case histories accumulated by the author indicate members of the clergy constitute a clear majority of the perpetrators.
But whatever reason(s) the hierarchy may harbor for refusing to act, it is clear none of them are or ever can be valid. The Sunday collection, nationwide, must be afforded a much greater level of protection than is presently provided in order to: 1.) curtail the Sunday collection thefts and concomitant sins which are presently occurring, 2.) eliminate the temptation to sin that exists under present conditions, 3.) provide the level of protection donors expect and deserve, and 4.) protect from unwarranted and unfair suspicion those who presently have access to those funds.
Based upon the Vatican’s rubber-stamp ratification of the U. S. Conference’s completely illogical and thoroughly discredited position, it appears the only way security will be improved in our lifetime is if the mainstream media recognizes the hierarchy’s culpability for the ongoing incidence of church embezzlements and aggressively publicizes it to the point where the USCCB admits its culpability and moves to correct it.
As respected Canon Law scholar and longtime abuse victim advocate Thomas P. Doyle remarked concerning the sexual abuse scandal, “the official church, from the Vatican to the national bishops’ conference to the individual dioceses, would have done nothing were they not forced to act.” Regarding the media’s role, Doyle noted “Every aspect of the [hierarchy’s] response was a defensive and embarrassed reaction to the widespread revelations in the secular media and to the pressure from the civil legal system.”
If you would rather review the correspondence contained in this section of our website at your leisure - it is quite extensive - CLICK HERE to download a compendium (in Rich Text format) that can be saved to your Desktop or My Documents folder and subsequently opened in any word processing program.
Finally, while I have come to believe the USCCB will always place the secular authority or prerogatives of individual bishops ahead of the fiscal wellbeing of the Church, I have been encouraged by the fact that key lay personnel in one or more individual dioceses have seen the light and taken the initiative to right this age-old injustice. A good example of that is the Dept. of Finance of the Archdiocese of Chicago which, in early 2005, implemented what amounts to a layover of the procedures posted elsewhere at this website as a free download.
This website was developed and posted by Michael W. Ryan, author of The Second Greatest Scandal in the Church (New Oxford Review, September 2003) and An Overview of Financial Vulnerabilities at the Parish Level (New Oxford Review, October 2005)
Website: http://www.ChurchSecurity.info E-mail: author@ChurchSecurity.info
Copyright © 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
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United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, American Catholic Bishops, American Bishops, Bernard Cardinal Law, Cardinal Law, Bishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk, Bishop Pilarczyk, Archbishop Thomas J. Murphy, Archbishop Murphy, William Cardinal Keeler, Cardinal Keeler, Rev. Robert J. Yeager, Robert J. Yeager, DFMC, Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference, Most Reverend Anthony M. Pilla, Anthony M. Pilla, Bishop Anthony M. Pilla, Most Reverend Joseph A Fiorenza, Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza, Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory, Wilton D. Gregory, Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory, Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, Most Reverend William S. Skylstad, Bishop William S. Skylstad, Archbishop William S. Skylstad, William S. Skylstad, Sean P. O’Malley, Archbishop Sean P. O’Malley, Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, American bishops, bishops conference, Catholic prelates, nonfeasance, sins of omission, failure to act, dereliction of duty, mismanagement, conspiracy, power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, the smoke of satan, antichrist, fallen angels, gates of hell |
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