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NOTE: This is not a facsimile but it is an exact transcript of Bishop Gregory's reply.
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Office of the President 3211 FOURTH STREET NE. WASHINGTON DC 20017-1194 202-541-3100 Fax 202-541-3166 Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory, S.L.D. Bishop of Belleville
December 10, 2001
Michael W. Ryan P.S. Services P.O. Box 475 Canton, MA 02021-0475
Dear Mr. Ryan:
Your letter of November 23, 2001 led me to ask for a briefing from our Conference staff about the matter you raised and the history of its discussion with my predecessors. As President of the Bishops' Conference, I am interested in a broad range of issues which affect the Church in this country, and as a diocesan Bishop I share the concern you have about the integrity and safety of our Sunday collections. But I am also mindful of the autonomy of the diocesan Bishop and what can and cannot be legislated or required from the national level.
I concur with the expressions of my predecessors and the Conference staff that we are not empowered either canonically or by our Conference statutes and bylaws to address the question of internal controls over offertory collections in such a way as to standardize or require any particular procedures.
However, as a Bishops' Conference, we can, and have, encouraged dioceses to practice good accounting practices and internal controls. As diocesan Bishops, we rely heavily on our finance officers and finance councils to assist us in exercising our own stewardship and providing guidance to our pastors.
I think the points you make are best directed to the fiscal officers, and for that reason I am going to send a copy of your letter to the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference. They meet annually and address these issues with the encouragement of their bishops and from their unique vantage point in their dioceses. I trust that they will look at your website, www.ChurchSecurity.info, and study your letter with the good of the Church in mind. They can consider the lived experiences of the local churches and how they might best assist all the fiscal managers in evaluating their local controls.
With gratitude for your scholarship and presentation and with every best wish for a blessed Advent, I am
Sincerely yours in Christ,
[signed] Wilton D. Gregory
Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory Bishop of Belleville President
cc: Reverend Robert Yeager, DFMC
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