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  Lawmakers Pick Fight with Catholic Church over Financial Records

By Theo Emery
Associated Press, carried in Worcester Telegram & Gazette [Boston MA]
August 9, 2005

BOSTON— When the clergy sexual abuse scandal broke in early 2002, lifelong Roman Catholic Don Pachuta told himself he wouldn't give another nickel to the Boston Archdiocese until the church opened its books and showed him where his money had gone.

More than three years later, he's still waiting.

An increasing number of Catholics like Pachuta, as well as members of other religious denominations, are backing a legislative proposal to make churches, mosques and synagogues in Massachusetts subject to the same reporting requirements as secular charities and non-profits.

And in a sign of the shift in influence by the once-powerful Catholic church in a heavily Catholic state, some lawmakers appear more willing to force reforms on the archdiocese.

The measure, which is backed by about 30 lawmakers, would require most churches and religious institutions to file the same annual reports with the attorney general's office as other charities and nonprofit organizations.

They would also have to report their real estate holdings, and the rules would also apply to related organizations and businesses that they own, whether for-profit or nonprofit. Most states with reporting requirements exempt churches, but some do require religious institutions to file financial information.

The Roman Catholic Church, as well as Protestant and Orthodox denominations, are lining up to oppose the legislation, saying that it would allow the government to intrude on private affairs of the church.

Boston has been the epicenter of the clergy sex abuse scandal and the archdiocese has seen dwindling attendance at Mass and decreasing collections. In the past year, the archdiocese has moved to close dozens of parishes.

The archdiocese ultimately paid out tens of millions of dollars in settlements to victims of clergy sex abuse, and the attorney general concluded that more than 1,000 parishioners were abused by more than 235 priests since the 1940s.

The frustration over the church's closed books mounted, Pachuta said, after the archdiocese announced plans to consolidate and close parishes because of falling attendance, priest shortages, and financial shortfalls.

"The Catholic people of this state, and non-Catholic people, are tired of the mystery, and having no answers to the question, 'where is the money going?' Show us," he said. "I think people are fed up."

The Boston Archdiocese opposes the legislation, saying that it has "wide and far reaching implications beyond just the Catholic Church."

"We clearly find the legislation threateningly intrusive to the work of the Church," said spokesman Terry Donilon.

Edward Saunders Jr., executive director of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, said the legislation, if passed, would allow the attorney general's office to intrude into the affairs of the church.

"That's a real erosion of the separation of church and state," he said.

But Sen. Marion Walsh, D-Boston, a chief sponsor of the bill and a Catholic, said that's untrue. The attorney general already has regulatory power over religious institutions, and the legislation would simply require them to disclose more information.

She said she filed the bill after angry constituents complained about the church reconfiguration process. Had there been more financial disclosure, problems in the church - including the clergy abuse crisis and financial payouts to victims - would have come to light sooner, she said.

"If the public and donors and the memberships had learned a long time ago about the lawsuits in the Catholic Church relative to sexual abuse of children, maybe less children would have been sexually abused, because people would have asked more questions," she said. "When it's a secret, then the darkness protects bad acts."

The opponents go far beyond just the Catholic Church. The Massachusetts Council of Churches, a coalition of 17 Orthodox and Protestant denominations and their 1,700 affiliated congregations, also opposes the legislation.

Laura Everett, program associate at the Massachusetts Council of Churches, said the bill sets a "dangerous precedent" for government involvement in internal church disputes.

"Our members churches are committed to complete transparency. This is really about the propriety of using the legislative arm of government to deal with that," she said.

Gov. Mitt Romney said he was not familiar with the details of the proposal and said he needed to study it further, but called it "a very valid inquiry."

"Clearly, nonprofit organizations should be subject to a level of disclosure which is consistent with the tax treatment that they receive," he said.

Peter Borre, a member of the Council of Parishes, a group made up of churches fighting closure in the Boston Archdiocese, said the church's finances have "always been in mystery wrapped in a riddle."

"I think there is a direct connection between the sexual abuse crisis, the church closings, and the need for more financial disclosures. The common thread is money," he said.