A friend called today asking me I was okay. He is a regular reader, maybe only one of this posting, Diary of Worm, and saw no posting last night. I have been ill this week but thought I had made a posting last night. I checked and could not find it. Finally tonight I realize I spent a lot of time last night writing a letter to Archbishop and the parish courporation board that controls the 1.1 million dollars that I am trying to direct,to service of poor as it was intended. Here it is tonight:



September 14, 2012

Dear Most Reverend Archbishop Listecki, President of the St. Catherine Parish Corporation,

On June 14, 2011 we wrote you with a suggestion to consider donating the proceeds from the sale of the Blessed Trinity to St. Vincent De Paul Conferences on the North side. You responded, via Mark Kemmeter, June 28, 2011 saying this “is an excellent idea” and suggested we discuss this idea with Fr. Jack Kerns, the pastor of St. Catherine Parish. This particular sale of the properties failed but the property was sold in June 2012.

Since our June, 2011 letter to you and the present we have talked with Father Kern and done some research on The Catholic Church in North Central Milwaukee. We have sent you a copy of the three essays. The first one, Separate but Unequal tells the story of how the Archdiocese from the very beginning attempted to segregate African American Catholics and when that failed slowly but surely withdrew Catholic churches from North Central Milwaukee. It shows how in this area of Milwaukee, which is the most segregated in the most segregated city in the USA, and the poorest in the 4th poorest city in the USA the Catholic Archdiocese has reduced the number of parishes from 17 in 1962 to 3 in 2012. In another essay, The Million Dollar Move we showed how there is 1.1 million dollars in Archdiocese funds deposited at St. Catherine resulting from the sale of the three properties of the three merged Churches, St. Nicholas, St. Albert’s and Holy Redeemer that formed Blessed Trinity in 1993.

Archbishop Listecki, as President of the St. Catherine Parish Corporation we would like to dialog with you and other members of the St. Catherine Parish Corporation Board who control these funds about the following petition.

Cry of the Poor Petition

We request that the 1.1 million dollars realized from the closing and sale of three Catholic Churches (St. Nicholas, St. Albert’s, Blessed Trinity/Holy Redeemer) in North Central Milwaukee be used to support vouchers for three St. Vincent De Paul conferences that serve those in need in the area, St. Catherine, All Saints and St. Martin De Pores.

We have already asked the Parish Council of St. Catherine, the advisory group to the parish corporation board, for time to present this petition at the next meeting. We recently made this request and have not received a response yet.

Some of us are flexible as to the time and place of this dialog on this “cry of the poor” petition to meet your busy schedule. We will send you early next week a signed hard copy of this letter. Working together in the Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee we have a chance to hear the words of Jesus in the parable, Judgment of Nations or Archdiocese: “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers (and sisters) of mine, you did it for me.” (Matthew 25: 40)

Sincerely,

Robert E. Graf

Donald Timmerman,
Casa Maria Catholic Worker House

Cc: St. Catherine Corporation Board, St. Catherine Parish Council

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