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	Archdiocese's Fiscal Pinch Costs Jobs, Bishops' Homes The Archdiocese of Boston's Budget Crunch Hit Close to Home This Month By Eric Convey Boston Herald [Boston MA] April 17, 2003 Four employees at the chancery on Lake Street were laid off, church officials said, and several others retired. Additional positions will remain unfilled. Moreover, two of the four regional bishops are relocating from designated residences into rectories where rank-and-file priests live. One person familiar with archdiocesan plans said the affected bishops serve the Merrimack Valley and North regions, living in Lowell and Peabody, respectively. Archdiocesan spokeswoman Donna M. Morrissey declined yesterday to say which bishops will relocate to rectories but confirmed two will move. "That is part of a cost-saving measure, because you save money on the overhead. There is no final decision on what will be done with the buildings themselves," she said. The South Region's bishop already lives in a rectory and the West Region is temporarily without a bishop. Morrissey declined to provide further details about budget cuts. She said the chancery is not yet ready to release extensive details. Bishop Richard G. Lennon, who is temporarily running the diocese pending the appointment of a permanent replacement for Bernard Cardinal Law, outlined preliminary cost-cutting at an April 4 meeting with chancery staff, one person who was present said. "We tried our very best not to eliminate positions," said Lennon, according to the archdiocesan Pilot newspaper. "Any layoff is too much and is not something that I am pleased about." "I wish that there had been no layoffs," Lennon said. "I wish that we could fill some of the open positions, but it was done to keep as many people still with us as possible." The archdiocese has been strapped for cash since donations plummeted after the clergy molestation scandal erupted last year.
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