For the third week in a row we have had a great response to our summer Sacrificial Giving appeal. At the end of June I presented to you the basic financial situation of our parish. You have responded beautifully. It is a good feeling for me as pastor to see all the different segments of our parish working together to resolve our mutual problems. Not only have parishioners responded generously to first and second collections, but there have been other efforts – for example the past two Sundays, Hispanics sold food to earn $587 for the parish.

Ed Williams, Director of Parish Financial Services of the Archdiocese, has been working with our parish finance council to help us get a good handle on expenses. Tom Weber, Pastoral Associate for Administration, has presented some of this data at the parish listening sessions, along with a vision for Holy Family for the coming years.

Many people in Holy Family have felt the effects of the economic downturn. Although we hear most about stockholders losing huge amount of money, the ones hurting most are those families whose breadwinner works in a “service industry” job (restaurant, hotel, etc.). Many have had hours cut back or have lost their jobs entirely. While we address our own parish economic problems, we cannot forget parishioners who are struggling at this time. On the third Sunday of August, the two-bit collection will go to parish St. Vincent de Paul (and, at Spanish Masses, to Madre Teresa) to assist the needy in our own neighborhood. The help that you give through St. Vincent de Paul is “multiplied” because its members are often able to direct the needy to other resources and to address the root causes of poverty.

One development on the national scene which could greatly help Holy Family is the possibility of school vouchers. In other states parents receive vouchers to enable them to send their child to the school of their choice. Consider: In 1998 the Seattle School District spent $7,639 per pupil. (No doubt the cost for the current school year will be higher.) If Holy Family parents received a voucher for half that amount, it would pay the cost, per pupil, at our parish school. Last year it cost Holy Family $3,442 for each student. Tuition of course is less than the per pupil cost. Fund raising (for example the annual school auction) and direct parish subsidy make up the difference. Last year the parish subsidy came to about $240,000.

While we can certainly hope that our legislators will soon make school voucher available to parents, more immediately we can work toward full classes in all grades. Some grades are already full and have waiting lists, but others have openings: PreKindergarten, Kindergarten, second and fourth grades - as well as limited openings in middle school. If you know someone in the area who might be interested in sending their child to Holy Family School, please advise them they may pick up an application form at the rectory office.

Last year to save money, I cancelled the subscription to the daily newspaper. While I miss some sections (like the comics and the obituaries) I have to say I am very dissatisfied with the way the Seattle newspapers cover the Catholic Church. They write about us like we are some kind of distant tribe. No need to check for accuracy because no matter how outrageous the statement, no one will step forward to contradict it.

Someone gave me an article from the Sunday Times which illustrates this kind of shabby reporting. It was about the “Ailing Pope.” The story line was hardly new. Reporters have been recycling articles about the “ailing pope” for five years. It contained this bit of breaking news: “the impression that the pope is no longer fully in control of Vatican agenda.” Hot flash! I could imagine the same journalist reporting, “Father Bloom is no longer fully in control of Holy Family agenda.” Number one I never was. Number two there is a good reason: I have an administrator; principal and other staff members in whom I have complete confidence. I have no need to be “fully in control” of any agenda. I am sure the same applies to the pope. He acts collegially.

However, the Times article, after that rather banal observation, proceeded to launch into murky waters. As a “prime example” of Vatican “incoherence” it mentioned the beatification of Pope Pius IX. Supposedly he made anti-Semitic remarks which contradict the Holy Father’s outreach to Jewish people. Of course, most readers know almost nothing about Blessed Pius IX so they have no context to evaluate the journalist’s slur on the pope. It would be as if the only thing someone knew about Abraham Lincoln was his scheme to resettle freed slaves in Africa. And then conclude that anyone who honors President Lincoln could not be a sincere friend of blacks.

During the past eight months we have gotten a full dose of media bias against the Catholic Church. For sure, they had plenty to report regarding clergy abuse of children – but they failed to place the scandal in a broader context. They often made it appear that sexual abuse of children is endemic to Catholic priests and that its cause is the celibacy requirement. However, Christianity Today (a Protestant Evangelical magazine) noted that there were “70 child abuse allegations reported against American Protestant churches each week during the last ten years,” a quarter of which were against pastors. (“Go Figure” May 21, 2002) So much for the theory that more lay control would automatically eliminate child abuse. Or that doing away with celibacy would solve everything.

When the federal government shut down the “Candyman” pedophile web site last March, it was reported that the site’s more than 7,000 visitors included members of the military, police and fire departments, teachers, Little League coaches, and eight members of the clergy, including two Catholic priests – two out of 7,000. For sure, two is too many – but at the same time, if we are going to deal with the plague of pedophilia, we must focus on more than just priests.

The media has not reported on dioceses which have effectively dealt with this issue. In the Archdiocese of Seattle, for over a decade we have used graduated sanctions, which allow the Archbishop to weigh the individual circumstances of each case and apply sanctions commensurate with the gravity of the particular case. These graduated sanctions may include recommendations for a penalty of dismissal from the clerical state, following the norms of canon law, or a return to restricted ministry with monitoring, counseling, and an appropriate level of disclosure.

In every case, the Special Cases Committee of the Archdiocese, comprised of therapists, civil and canon lawyers and a pastor, review the facts of the case, the therapeutic and monitoring report and provides a recommendation for the Archbishop’s consideration. Almost all the allegations of sexual abuse of children and minors go back over two decades. It seems to me the approach of the Archdiocese is sounder than a blanket “zero-tolerance” policy – especially in the case of a priest, repentant of his misdeeds, who has shown by two decades of monitored ministry that he poses no threat to children.

Perhaps the bishops in Dallas had no alternative than adopt a rigid policy which “even for a single act of sexual abuse of a minor – past, present or future – the offending priest or deacon will be permanently removed from ministry.” (Charter, article 5) We live in an unforgiving society. However, we are also part of a universal church so the Charter must receive a “recognitio” from the Holy See before becoming effective. Let’s pray for God’s guidance for the Holy Father and his advisors.

One place we can always experience forgiveness is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. There will be opportunity for confession this Thursday (August 1) from 4 to 8 p.m. in our church.

As we pray for our bishops, let’s also remember young men whom God is calling to the priesthood. In a special way we want to support Vernon Wells, who has served Holy Family as youth minister and this August will enter the Dominican novitiate in California.

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