Church survival at stake (Editorial re Boston Archdio. offices move)

Boston Herald ^ | May 24, 2007 | Editorial Staff

[siunevada]

Mayor Tom Menino’s job is in no small measure about protecting jobs, services and people. And so we understand his aversion to the idea that the Archdiocese of Boston may soon leave its city headquarters for, of all things, a low-rise office park in Braintree.

Yes, the idea of men in priestly collars working in a generic cubicle farm is, well, a little strange.

But the mayor has picked the wrong fight here, as the church struggles to recover from a true financial crisis, to fend off additional church and school closures and - it must be said - to shed the baggage that has sadly come to be associated with the Chancery on Lake Street in Brighton.

True, there was a time not long ago when “Lake Street” conjured up images of fabulously successful garden fundraisers; of holy men and dutiful lay workers toiling amid the dark wood paneling and stone carvings.

But sadly Lake Street, to many Catholics, now represents the place where all those records of abuse by priests were kept; where church leaders wrote the transfer letters that prolonged the pain for child victims; where donations from parishioners were lavished upon the church hierarchy.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley recognized that instantly upon his arrival. It’s why he occupies a humble apartment at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the South End, and not the mansion where his predecessors held court.

And if, as planned, the church does sell the remaining Chancery grounds to Boston College, neither the cathedral (the church’s spiritual headquarters) nor O’Malley would go anywhere. A change in zip code for back-office operations would surely not, as Menino fears, alter the church mission of serving the poor and vulnerable, so many of whom live in Boston.

There may indeed be a better solution than the Braintree location being offered at a discount by church benefactor Thomas J. Flatley. If so, fine. We realize the importance to many Catholics of maintaining the archdiocesan headquarters in the heart of this city, even as it serves 143 other communities in the region.

But if a move outside the city means more churches and schools can remain open - if it means Boston can avoid the fate of the bankrupt archdiocese of Spokane, Wash. - is it not worth it?

[Tax-chick]

I think it’s an excellent decision.

[Clemenza]

Good move on the part of the Archdiocese. Cut costs and use the savings to build new congregations.