Diocese kicks off fund drive minus fanfare -- and a goal Albany

Albany Times-Union ^ | April 20, 2004 | Michele Morgan Bolton

[sidewalk]

Diocese kicks off fund drive minus fanfare -- and a goal Albany -- Bishop's Appeal fell short of $6.8M target last year after clergy sex abuse charges surfaced

In an apparent break from tradition, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany did not announce a goal for the 2004 Bishop's Appeal as the annual nine-week fund drive was launched at churches this weekend.

The campaign, which fell short of its $6.8 million goal last year, usually kicks off with a flourish as church leaders show videos to help illustrate good works financed by donations from parishioners.

This year the appeal by the diocese, which is roiling from a clergy sex abuse scandal, consisted of a five-minute pitch at Sunday Masses and a 15-page brochure mailed to 400,000 members. It came a week after Easter, and just two months since Bishop Howard Hubbard was publicly accused of engaging in homosexual behavior and soliciting a teenage male prostitute in the 1970s.

Some said the low-key fund drive that specifically failed to set a dollar goal is a way to avoid drawing attention to the controversy.

Longtime Bishop's Appeal Director Jack Manning disagreed.

"Historically, we've had an incremental increase each year," said Manning, who has run the drive for 23 years. "My hope is we do at least as well as last year. That's a minimum need."

The money raised pays for services to the nearly 200 parishes throughout the 14-county diocese and is distributed to Catholic schools, campus ministries, scouting programs and other activities.

While he's critical of what he termed a lack of accountability in church finances, Thomas Going, a parishioner at Corpus Christi Church in Clifton Park, said he plans to increase his contribution by 20 percent.

"Usually I give $260, but now I'm giving $300," said Going, a former priest who has been married for 33 years. "I don't believe any of the allegations against the bishop and I pray for him every day. I'm doing this in support of the man."

At the same time, he said, programs supported by Hubbard's appeal -- including pastoral and evangelistic outreach, Chancery operations, Catholic Charities and other agencies -- should be audited. "You don't know what you're getting for your dollars," Going said.

While Going and other Catholics plan to give generously, others say they have had enough.

Some conservative Catholics are urging parishioners to think twice about contributing to this year's appeal.

"On the one hand, we have knowledge of at least this one case where a payoff was floated through Catholic Charities," said Phillip Kiernan of Concerned Catholics of the Capital Region. "On the other? It's understandable that Catholics want to make sure their parishes are safe from any hardball tactics if they don't meet their quota."

Kiernan was referring to a 2002 payment of $150,000 to a victim of sexual abuse by a priest who was given an untraceable Albany Catholic Charities bank check. The money was repaid within days from the diocese's self-insurance fund, church officials said, but the incident sparked widespread criticism.

Catholic Charities receives about 78 percent of its budget -- or $27 million -- from government grants and other public funding, but still relies on parishioners' support. Last year, the Bishop's Appeal contributed about $870,000.

Part of the calling is to be charitable, Kiernan said, "but that doesn't mean we want to fund corruption."

[Desdemona]

What does the bishop's appeal pay for? By that, I mean, does the dough go into the general coffers or does Hubbard have any special projects and if so, what are they?

[NYer]

What does the bishop's appeal pay for? By that, I mean, does the dough go into the general coffers or does Hubbard have any special projects and if so, what are they?

Here are the agencies 'earmarked' to receive assistance from the Bishop's Appeal.