Pete Seeger, 1919–2014, sang
out for peace and justice
not money
After passing out flyers to Marquette University students today about ‘What Pope Francis says’ and ‘What Marquette does’ about teaching war, violence and killing, two of us decided to attend the Mass at 12:05pm at Gesu, the church on campus. After mass as we were walking across Wisconsin Avenue to our car and a reporter and cameraman stopped us and asked if they could ask us a question. As my friend slipped away I stayed. The reporter asks me what I thought about the Archdiocese finally presenting a plan to settle claims resulting from sexual abuse scandal in the bankruptcy hearing. I did not know what the plan consist of so just talked about my concern that the Catholic Church be honest and practice full disclosure about its financing. I did mention how our Church was closed and we still do not have a full disclosure of what happened to the money, two and half years later. Fresh from my witness at Marquette I quoted St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, Jesuits, who said: “Love best express itself in deeds over words.”
On the five-o-clock and six-o- clock news I learned how little the Catholic Archdiocese were offering victims of sexual abuse with almost three times more money going to legal fees. The Archbishop talked about how we in the Catholic Archdiocese need to do ‘penance’ since we now will be 7 million dollars in debt to lawyers if the Judge in the bankruptcy accepts their plan. He talks about continuing our mission to act on the Gospels. My thought is that I am not paying for the ‘sins’ of our fathers but do my best to act on the Gospel by serving the poor and marginalized not the rich lawyers.
Our church that the Archdiocese closed was a merged Church, consisting of three Catholic Churches brought together in 1993. One of the Churches closed by the Archdiocese was doing very well and was on valuable land. However, the Archdiocese got into a legal fight with the church that purchased the property and wasted away on legal fees in a losing court case a majority of the money.
Money from the Department of Defense seems to be at the heart of why Marquette University teaching violence and killing on campus and concern about money seems to be why the Archdiocese spent so much money to keep their money from the victims of the sexual abuse scandal.
My Open Letter to the Archbishop for full disclosure of money realized from closing and sale of Blessed Trinity Catholic Church appears below. We know that almost all the money went into an endowment fund for “future Catholic Church”. A Church attached to money is not a Church of Peace and Justice. Making money or doing peace and justice, sadly is the question for the Catholic Church in Milwaukee.
Open Letter to Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki
Over two and half years ago the Archdiocese of Milwaukee under, your leadership closed Blessed Trinity Church, a merged Church in North Central Milwaukee. This is an area wherein, of 17 Catholic Churches in the 1960’s, the number has now been reduced to 3. It is time now to reveal how the million to a million and half dollars realized from the closing and sale was disbursed. We know the Parish Corporation Board of Blessed Trinity transferred all assets from sale and closing to the Parish Corporation Board of St. Catherine Church. You are the President of both Boards. Now that all the funds have been disbursed by St. Catherine it is time for full disclosure. Please reveal the amount of the assets realized from sale and closing of Blessed Trinity and how they were disbursed:
1) Rental income from the year between closing and sale.
2) Sale price of Blessed Trinity properties.
3) Financial assets of Blessed Trinity parish, including funds in St. Nicholas fund and St. Albert trust fund.
4) Other financial assets realized from the closing and sale of Blessed Trinity.
Please give full disclosure of how these financial assets were disbursed by Corporation Board of St. Catherine:
1) Ownership and purpose of any endowment or trust fund created.
2) Assets going to operation of St. Catherine Parish
3) Disclosure of closing and other cost relating to sale of Blessed Trinity property.
4) Any disbursements to agencies, organizations and groups within St. Catherine or outside of it.
5) Assets going to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee
Some of this information is known and the rest could be found out by investigated reporting. However, I believe it would be better for you and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee to voluntarily give full disclosure of the assets achieved by closing and sale of this Church parish and how the money has been disbursed or is planned to be disbursed.
The three Catholic parishes left in North Central Milwaukee, like Blessed Trinity, serve the poorest neighborhoods in one of the poorest cities in the USA. They are the most segregated, African American, neighborhoods in the most segregated city in the USA. They are the neighborhoods that have the most males who served prison time, in the State that has the highest incarceration of African American males in the USA, which country has the highest rate of incarceration per capita in the world. These are the neighborhoods where Pope Francis and our Church called us to serve the poor and marginalized. Catholics in the Archdiocese deserve to know the amount of money received from closing and sale of the parish and where the money from Blessed Trinity went.
Hopefully we, people of the Catholic Church, have learned from the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church that full disclosure and transparency is necessary to preserve the integrity of the Catholic Church.
We wait your response. May the Grace and Blessings God gives to poor and marginalized be with you?
Robert E. Graf Jr.
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