Bishop's annual appeal: last year my parish met the quota with no problem at all.

[hedgehog]

This year we're only hitting 39%. What's going on in your parish?

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

1. Same here

My bishop has come out strongly against requiring health insurance plans to cover contraceptives. This stance has made him few friends, since the general feeling is "why doesn't he pay attention to things that actually matter?" As I have said elsewhere, if the institutional Church had spent as much time and effort on the sin of avarice as they have on the sin of lust, everyone would be far better off.

[hedgehog]

2. Can you give more specifics? My diocese is Syracuse.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

5. Sure

My diocese is Joliet, Illinois. The bishop is Daniel Conlon.

[UrbScotty]

3. Only 20% of the goal so far - but I think that's more because

the diocese just released a plan to consolidate a number of parishes due to a lack of priests. Our parish is being targeted for consolidation, which could explain the low number. They released that plan just as the appeal was getting underway, which in terms of timing may not have been the wisest move on their part.

I'm in Grand Rapids, by the way. Our bishop just turned 75, which means he has submitted (or at least he was supposed to submit) his resignation. His retirement, along with the naming of the new bishop, will probably come sooner rather than later due to health concerns (he had major heart surgery a year ago. While he hasn't been as aggressive in opposing the administration as, say, Dolan or Chaput, he has been a foot soldier in that effort.

[hedgehog]

4. When my parish was forcibly consolidated, the priests at hand

stated it would be wonderful; we'd have all the income from two parishes, but only the costs of one establishment. Since the Vatican II parish was more or less suppressed in favor of a parish run by an authoritarian nut job ( to use the technical term!), income fell precipitously. The saddest part, IMO, is that many older people were left with no parish community. They refuse to go to Mass as long as the nut job is in place, and it's too far to drive to another Mass.