NEW YORK
National Catholic Reporter
Joshua J. McElwee | Jan. 11, 2017
New York
Cardinal Timothy Dolan has informed his clergy he is considering moving his archdiocese’s headquarters out of the building it now occupies in midtown Manhattan in a bid to save money and to correct what he says is an “unfair and inaccurate perception of the archdiocese as some bloated, money-grabbing corporation.”
The cardinal revealed the possible move in a highly charged letter to his priests and deacons in late November in which he also takes the clergy to task for complaining about how the archdiocese collects money from its parishes and exhorts them to challenge parishioners to donate more frequently and abundantly.
Throughout the four-page letter, obtained by NCR, Dolan takes a biting tone, lamenting that his priests reportedly either complain about the archdiocese interfering in their parishes’ affairs or that his administration is not doing enough to support their particular favored areas of ministry.
Pushing his priests to encourage their parishioners to give more money to the archdiocese, the cardinal asks at one point: “Why are we afraid to urge our people to sacrificial generosity?”
“The Evangelicals sure demand stewardship!” he exhorts. “The Mormons sure do! Our Jewish Synagogues do! Planned Parenthood sure pushes its donors! The secular causes sure do!”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.