Posted on 05/31/2006 9:27:03 AM PDT by petkus
Police called after she was told not to come; she wants documents
A Hopewell woman, a vocal critic of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, was escorted by police from her parish church over the weekend after she refused to leave.
Lynn Allgeier, 58, who has attended St. James Catholic Church in Hopewell for eight years, has tried to get the diocese and her parish to make their financial records available for inspection by the laity. She also wants to read the personnel file of Saint James' pastor, the Rev. Frank L. Wiggins Jr.
"They wouldn't give me a line-by-line budget showing how money is spent. I want that, and I want to know the history of the priest," Allgeier said.
William Etherington, an attorney for the diocese, said Allgeier has been disruptive.
"She accuses people of things that are not true and demands she be able to interview the pastor. The pastor has said, 'I don't want you here.' And he has the right to say that."
(Excerpt) Read more at timesdispatch.com ...
Seems to me that it's none of her business how the church spends money. If she gives money it's freely given by her choice but I suspect she doesn't give. I also doubt she has any right to info on the priest either.
I think she needs to put some ice on it and go to a church that agrees with her demands if they choose to do so.
What a sad state of affairs. I shall keep her in prayer.
The parish nut. Every Church has at least one.
Actually, I've attended three churches since I accepted Christ in 1980. They all gave annual financial reports. They all operated under the paradigm that we SHOULD know how our money is being used.
'Course, none of them was Catholic. They may have different rules.
I think it varies by diocese and parish.
I'm not saying that the church shouldn't show her the financial records. Only that I don't think they "have" to show them.
All tax exempt organizations, in my opinion, should open their books to examination. Any agenda would be easier to detect.
Why would she want to go to a church that she suspects?
Been attending for eight years and has only recently become disruptive? Sounds like she may have some well-founded suspicions.
Considering
A. scandal of wasted parish donations being used by priests for personal enrichment, for example in Florida,
and
B. the moving of priests who are homosexual predators around, within and outside of different dioceses in the US
It seems to me the woman has some legitimate questions.
Why wouldn't a parrish want to operate their finances in an open manner? Why wouldn't the information be available to their parishioners?
The days of a gullible segment of Faithful ought to be over, these types of questions are reasonable and should be the norm in every parrish..
It's not just parishioners who volunteer to teach children CCD who need to be fingerprinted as is happening in Arlington, full disclosure of the priest should also be a given.
Maybe she believes it is her duty to expose improprieties.
Same here.
What is even more sad is this, from further down in the article:
Allgeier was sent a certified letter by an attorney in Etherington's office telling Allgeier she is no longer welcome on any property belonging to St. James Catholic Church."Should you enter these premises, you will be considered a trespasser and subject to arrest," said the letter, dated May 22 and signed by Leslie A. Winneberger.
Allgeier went to the 5 p.m. Mass on Saturday and was asked to leave. When she refused, the police were called, and she was escorted off church property, Allgeier said.
It appears that the nearest parish to St. James is about 10 miles away (St. Ann's). It's not like it's just a few blocks down the road. That, to me, makes it a doubly sad state of affairs.
Note: not that I am condoning her actions...but if she doesn't have ready transportation, they may have effectively excommunicated her.
The article doesn't say that. This is probably the culmination of eight years of grief that the pastor has endured from this woman.
It doesn't say why she wants to look at the books. The reason is likely something kooky, like checking to see if the pastor donates to the Masons or the Illuminati.
You claim the honors?
I'm a little surprised by the diocese's response. I'm curious as to her persistence in pursuing this. In my diocese, most financial information is presented to the public in a balance sheet style in the bulletin. General biographical information is also made available. I'm curious, and the article doesn't really say, about the 'why' of her actions. Is she a nut job? Or a whistle blower? Sadly, in my diocese and in my parish, several 'nutjobs' who were dismissed and told they weren't welcome, and one was kept away by letter, turned out to be vindicated (never officially) when a variety of errors were uncovered and corrected.
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