c. 2004 Religion News Service
Tucson Diocese Declares Bankruptcy
(RNS) The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson, Ariz., filed for bankruptcy protection Monday (Sept. 20), making it the second diocese in U.S. history to take such a step.
Like the Portland, Ore., archdiocese, which declared bankruptcy in July, the Arizona diocese sought legal protection after dealing with ongoing lawsuits concerning sexual abuse of children by parish priests.
The Tucson diocese also made the move because it is facing serious debt, the Associated Press reported.
It had a $7 million deficit in unrestricted net assets and $4.64 million in long-term debt as of June 30, according to its financial statement.
Bishop Gerald Kicanas, spiritual leader of the Tucson diocese, sent a letter in June to parishioners warning them that the diocese might have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The letter said such a step might be “the only option for the diocese.”
With the decision, the financial functions of the Tucson diocese will be subject to court scrutiny for the first time.
The diocese settled 11 suits by 16 plaintiffs in 2002, including 10 victims who claimed they had been abused by four of its priests. Most of the abuse allegedly occurred between the 1960s and the 1990s.
Since that time, 22 more lawsuits with 34 plaintiffs have been filed against the diocese, all regarding allegations of abuse.
Kicanas, in a letter Monday to the Catholics in his diocese, said the filing of a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization represents “the best opportunity for healing and for the just and fair compensation of those who suffered sexual abuse by workers for the church in our diocese.”
Lawyers for the plaintiffs who are suing the diocese believe there is money to settle the pending cases. They recently filed a court motion to try to block the diocese from transferring properties to affiliated Catholic organizations before a trial that was scheduled for late September.
On July 6, the Catholic Archdiocese of Portland announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It chose that option rather than proceeding with a priest-abuse trial that was scheduled to begin that day.
Toledo Catholic Diocese Considers Parish Closures
(RNS) The Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo, Ohio, has recommended closing or merging 33 churches due to a declining number of priests and shifting populations.
The proposal would decrease the number of parishes from 157 to 131. The diocese, with about 307,000 Catholics, expects to finalize the reduction in March, the Associated Press reported.
Several of the churches expected to close are in rural villages and have been central to the life in those communities.
“For some, their grandparents built the churches,” said Sister Joyce Lehman, a member of the committee that recommended the closings.
“They were married there. It’s not just a church. It’s really a significant part of their life.”
Bishop Leonard Blair, the spiritual leader of the Toledo diocese, said the plans are not related to the clergy sex abuse scandal that began in 2002 in Boston and has affected the nationwide Catholic Church.
He also said he was open to ideas that might help prevent some parishes from closing.
“This makes sense to me, but I haven’t made my decision,” Blair said. “I’m open to any observations and counter-suggestions.”
The church committee that studied the matter for two years also suggested that 16 other churches remain open but share pastors.
Mt. Olive Pickle Agreement Ends Boycott by Religious Groups
(RNS) The National Council of Churches has applauded an agreement unionizing foreign farmworkers who pick cucumbers sold by the Mt. Olive Pickle Company, which it had boycotted in protest of previous treatment of the workers.
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee, the North Carolina Growers Association and the Mount Olive, N.C.-based pickle company reached an agreement Thursday (Sept. 16) that permits the workers to join the organizing committee and receive union membership benefits. The company will increase what it pays for the crops and give a financial incentive to growers who compensate farmworkers.
“This agreement represents the kind of mutual benefit that we hope will become an example for all of American industry, pointing toward a new era where profits are measured not only in share values, but in human values as well,” said the Rev. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the New York-based ecumenical body, in a statement.
Benefits now afforded the workers include improved pay, grievance procedures and bereavement leave when a close relative dies in another country.
In 2003, the National Council of Churches voted to endorse the consumer boycott that the organizing committee started in 1999. It called the boycott a “measure of last resort.”
It joined more than 300 groups in endorsing the boycott, including Catholic bishops in Raleigh, N.C., and other dioceses, the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church and the United Church of Christ.
Jim Winkler, general secretary of the United Methodist board, also hailed the juncture.
“This agreement, by providing grievance procedures, monitoring committees and other mechanisms to improve housing, health care and wages for farmworkers across the state, is an important step toward fulfillment of a faith-filled vision of worker justice,” he said in a statement.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Dobson Urges Boycott of Procter & Gamble Over Gay Rights Issue
(RNS) Focus on the Family Chairman James Dobson has encouraged listeners to his radio program to boycott products of the Procter & Gamble company because of a “tacit endorsement of gay marriage,” but the Cincinnati manufacturer says conservative groups are mistaken about its stance.
“For Procter and Gamble to align itself with radical groups committed to redefining marriage in our country is an affront to its customers,” Dobson said in a statement released Thursday (Sept. 16) by his Colorado Springs, Colo.-based ministry. “An overwhelming majority of Americans _ the men and women who buy this company’s products _ oppose same-sex marriage.”
Procter & Gamble’s donation of $10,000 to a campaign for the repeal of a city ordinance barring enactment of gay rights laws is not related to the marriage issue, said company spokesman Doug Shelton.
“Our company supports repeal of Article 12 in the city of Cincinnati, which removed from our City Council the authority to enact any ordinances that would protect individuals from discrimination,” he told Religion News Service. “The two issues are separate and distinct and our company has not taken a position on the definition of marriage.”
He said Dobson correctly stated that the company “will not tolerate discrimination in any form, against anyone for any reason.”
Shelton said his company thinks the city’s ordinance, which he said is the only one of its kind in the country, has hurt the economy of the region.
“The perception with this ordinance on the books is that Cincinnati is not a very welcoming place to live or to start a career, so we lose a lot of people who do not want to come to Cincinnati because they feel that the city is intolerant,” he said.
Dobson recommended that his listeners boycott two of the company’s best-known brands: Crest toothpaste and Tide laundry detergent.
The American Family Association, a conservative Christian organization based in Tupelo, Miss., has asked its supporters to participate in the same boycott.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Sex Scandal Involving Child Welfare Advocate Stuns Latin America
(RNS) The dismissal of a well-known crusader for the defense of abused children in Latin America has sent a shock wave among those who saw him as a fighter against child prostitution.
Bruce Harris, a British citizen who had directed Casa Alianza, was fired after admitting that he paid an 18-year-old Honduran male for sexual favors, according to a Friday (Sept. 17) statement from the international child welfare group Covenant House, Casa Alianza’s parent organization.
Before the firing, Harris had circulated an e-mail saying that he had resigned because he was worn out and wanted to spend more time with his family.
Harris was unavailable for comment after the firing was announced, but released a statement saying: “I am sorry if I have deceived some of you by this and other decisions I have made. Everybody tries to achieve more than they are able, but also we are human.”
Officials in Honduras said they were investigating whether Harris had broken a law and should be extradited from Costa Rica. In a statement, Harris said that he had not acted illegally since the age of accountability in Honduras is 18.
Those who work with abused and homeless children in the region expressed shock at the revelation and feared that their efforts could be seriously set back.
In Costa Rica, where Harris lives and maintains the Casa Alianza office, officials were indignant that someone who was so public in his condemnation of those who exploit children would himself be caught abusing a child.
“How terrible,” Ludwig Guendel, an official of UNICEF, told the newspaper La Nacion. “It took me by surprise and hurt me greatly because I know Bruce personally and his struggle in this area (of protecting abused and sexually exploited children).”
In Nicaragua, Evelyn Palma of the Casa Alianza office there told the newspaper La Prensa: “This crime is in the moral and ethical area, because Casa Alianza struggles against commercial sexual exploitation. There will be a price to pay because this goes against (the organization’s) principles.”
Nora Urbina, a public prosecutor in Honduras, said that the case was of particular importance because it involved “a high official of an organization that protects, defends and works with children.”
The young man who brought charges said that Harris picked him up at a city park around midnight July 14 and drove him to a nearby hotel where the alleged sexual encounter took place.
Harris had served as director of the organization for the past 15 years, gaining international attention for his efforts to address the plight of street children in the region, many of whom turn to prostitution as a means of livelihood.
He was often controversial, charging police officers and other officials with child abuse, and suggesting that countries such as Costa Rica promoted child prostitution as a means of attracting more tourists.
Casa Alianza operates shelters for homeless and abused children in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. It provides assistance to children who are forced to work and who have been abused either by their families or by police officials.
The organization has been recognized internationally for its work with children. Harris himself has received several awards, including the Olof Palme award in 1996 for the defense of children in Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico and the Conrad N. Hilton award in 2000, which gained his organization $1 million for the defense and rehabilitation of street children in Central America.
_ Kenneth D. MacHarg
Quote of the Day: Musical Celebrity Madonna
(RNS) “I’m here as a student of Kabbalah. A Kabbalist sees the world as a unified whole. A Kabbalist asks why. A Kabbalist believes that he or she has the responsibility to make the world a better place.”
_ Musical celebrity Madonna in Israel talking about Kabbalah quoted in The New York Times.
MO/PH END RNS
