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April 22, 2001
PERSONAL ATTENTION His Excellency, Archbishop Csaba Ternyak Secretary, Congregation for the Clergy 00120 Citta del Vaticano Rome, Italy
RE: Prot. N. 20010612 Dear Archbishop Ternyak;
I received your letter of March 30 in reply to my letter of February 14 to His Eminence, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. As you know, that letter was accompanied by a 4-page petition and more than 100 pages of exhibits pertaining to “the interrelated matters of repetitive, surreptitious theft, and the sins and occasions of sin generated and countenanced by an intentionally vulnerable revenue handling process.” Together, the petition and exhibits clearly establish the adverse moral ramifications of the status quo as well as the U. S. Episcopal Conference’s deliberate refusal to initiate corrective action.
In light of the overriding moral consequences of preserving the status quo with respect to current Sunday collection procedures in the American Catholic Church, I was surprised to receive a reply from the Congregation for the Clergy. That surprise turned to near disbelief, however, when I read your four-sentence reply which acknowledged receipt of my letter alone and avoided any mention of the heart of my petition: the sins and occasions of sin which flow from an intentionally vulnerable revenue handling process. I trust your decision to ignore the overriding moral issue was not in any way influenced by the fact that fully two thirds of the case histories included with my petition relate to thefts by members of the clergy.
If my objective had been to prove that the hierarchy of our Church will adopt any position that will enable them to avoid taking action to correct the perennial evil of Sunday collection theft, you could not have been more helpful. Given the documentation included with my petition, your proffer of the rationale that “security of the ‘Sunday Collection’ is something that would fall under the competency of the local Bishop” is an insult to your intelligence as well as it is to mine. Indeed, it suggests that the examination which formed the basis for your letter was performed by a subordinate. If that is the case, I must say you were poorly served by that individual.
My petition does not concern the “competency” of local bishops. If you read my petition, Your Excellency, you know at least three things: 1.) the phenomenon of embezzlement from the Sunday collection is (at least in America) a Church-wide, multi-million dollar, perennial plague; 2.) it is a major source of serious sin; and 3.) Canon Law specifically provides that Episcopal Conferences may issue rules regarding collections, which rules “must be observed by all”. It is therefore illogical (at best) to hold or imply that the problem is best handled by local bishops.
In light of the aforementioned, Archbishop Ternyak, I respectfully request that my petition and the many relevant exhibits which accompanied it be reexamined. While I remain convinced that the matter would be best addressed by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, I assume the Prefect of your Congregation, His Eminence, Dario Cardinal Castrillon-Hoyos, is empowered to initiate action that could culminate with implementation of the centralized corrective measures that are so clearly and desperately needed. I pray that you and Cardinal Castrillon-Hoyos will not let the fact that such measures could and should have been implemented several decades ago deter you from initiating that long-overdue action at this time.
If, upon prayerful reflection, you and Cardinal Castrillon-Hoyos decide not to reexamine my petition, I would greatly appreciate it if you would at least refer a copy of the petition and transmittal letter to the appropriate official of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. I ask this because those documents contain one or more relevant points that were not presented to the U. S. Conference in any of my prior communications. Although (based upon more than ten years of fruitless communication) I have little hope that anything positive will come from that referral, there is always a possibility that the Holy Spirit will descend upon the recipient and instill in him a right judgment, a clear insight and a courageous resolve to boldly address this critical area which remains so vitally important to the moral and fiscal well-being of our Church.
Most sincerely,
[signed] M. W. Ryan
Michael W. Ryan
cc: His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith
RESPONSE SUMMARY
By letter of May 15, 2001, Archbishop Ternyak advised that his Congregation “has nothing more to add to its response already given in our letter dated 30th March, 2001, Protocol Number 20010612.”
This hunkered-down response to reasoned dissent once again brings to mind the long-standing truism concerning the corrupting influence of power. For a graphic illustration of its effects at the local level, click on the Setting the Stage button on the menu bar. |
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