c. 2004 Religion News Service
Spokane, Wash., Diocese Plans Bankruptcy Filing
(RNS) The bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Spokane, Wash., has announced that his diocese plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after being unable to settle claims against it relating to sexual abuse.
Diocesan officials were unsuccessful in their attempts to settle 28 pending claims, Bishop William S. Skylstad wrote in his diocesan newspaper. He said those claims related to the actions of one former diocesan priest, Patrick O’Donnell.
But Skylstad said another 30 claims are pending in other cases, bringing the total of sought damages to “tens of millions of dollars.”
He hopes the move toward reorganization will permit fair treatment of the victims and the continuation of the diocese’s ministries.
“I am convinced that Chapter 11 provides justice for everyone involved,” Skylstad wrote in the Thursday edition of the Inland Register, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Spokane.
He expects the filing to take place by Nov. 29. If it occurs, Spokane will be the third diocese in U.S. history to make such a move. The Diocese of Tucson, Ariz., filed for bankruptcy protection in September, following a similar step by the Portland, Ore., archdiocese in July.
Skylstad currently is the vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and is expected to be named president when the group gathers in Washington Nov. 15-18.
A spokesman for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests criticized the planned action of the diocese.
“Like his brother bishops in Tucson and Portland, Skylstad’s main concern is to prevent horrific cover-ups of abuse to be exposed in upcoming civil trials,” Michael Ross said in a statement.
“His real agenda is to make sure the secrets stay secret.”
_ Adelle M. Banks
Werner Taken Out of the Running for Episcopal Church Post
(RNS) A Pittsburgh priest who presides over the lay and clergy branch of the Episcopal Church will not be eligible for a third term after losing an election to be a deputy, or delegate, in his home diocese.
The Very Rev. George Werner is president of the 800-member House of Deputies, which comprises lay and clergy delegates. It meets alongside the church’s House of Bishops at triennial legislative conventions.
Werner, the former dean of Trinity Cathedral in Pittsburgh, failed to win re-election as a deputy during the Diocese of Pittsburgh’s recent convention. Werner was attending a meeting of the church’s Executive Council in Boise, Idaho, and could not attend the Pittsburgh convention.
Although he may serve the rest of his term through 2006, he will not be able to seek a third term since only active deputies are eligible.
“I have treasured this ministry and give deep thanks for these opportunities to serve this part of the Body of Christ,” Werner said in a Nov. 6 statement.
Werner does not consider himself a liberal but is not nearly as conservative as the Pittsburgh diocese. Last summer, he voted to approve an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire, while Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh emerged as the leader of the church’s conservative wing. At the time, Werner noted that his vote could create problems for him at home.
“I am grateful to our bishop and my brothers and sisters throughout the diocese for my many blessings in serving here,” he said in his statement. “May God bless us all on our pilgrimage to the kingdom.”
_ Kevin Eckstrom
U.S. Catholics Give $28 Million for Nuns’ and Priests’ Retirement Costs
(RNS) A national collection to raise money for the retirement needs of elderly nuns and priests raised $28 million last year, Catholic officials said, and parishioners will be asked soon to donate again.
The annual collection for the Retirement Fund for Religious will be held on Dec. 5 in 174 Catholic dioceses. Last year’s collection gave $20 million to underfunded retirement programs, and $6.4 million in emergency assistance to religious orders with critical needs.
Because religious orders operate independently of the church, they are responsible for their own retirement costs. The average yearly Social Security payment to a member of a religious order is $3,874, compared with a national average of $10,836.
American Catholics have donated $440 million to the annual appeal since it was launched in 1988. Additional funding has come from $1.4 million in direct bequests and gifts to the fund.
The 2003 collection assisted 541 religious orders, with an average of $513 per member over age 70.
In the last 10 years, the share of nun’s orders with retirement costs at least 61 percent funded has risen from 25 percent to 51 percent. For men’s orders, the figure has grown from 20 percent to 64 percent.
“Catholics and non-Catholics have been helped by religious men and women and they remember this,” said Monsignor William Fay, general secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Membership Continues to Decline
(RNS) The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has seen a continuing decline in membership, according to reports from its congregations.
While the denomination has reaped increased contributions, its research analyst John O’Hara said: “The real story is that membership is still declining.”
The number of baptized members at the end of 2003 was 2,488,936, which is 23,778 fewer than in 2002. Between 2001 and 2002, the baptized membership declined by 27,331.
The total of confirmed members for 2003 was 1,894,822, or 13,101 fewer than 2002. Confirmed membership declined by 13,026 from 2001 to 2002.
O’Hara said the membership declines “continue a trend of the past 30 years.”
Meanwhile, contributions in 2003 reached a record amount _ in excess of $1.2 billion. That is more than $53 million above contributions reported the year before and follows declines of $13.8 million in 2002 and $12.1 million in 2001.
The 2003 statistics are based on reports from 74 percent of congregations compiled by the denomination’s Office of Rosters and Statistics. About 10 percent fewer congregations reported their statistics for 2003 than made reports in 2002.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Quote of the Day: Former Southern Christian Leadership Conference President Fred Shuttlesworth
(RNS) “For years, deceit, mistrust and a lack of spiritual discipline and truth have eaten away at the core of this once-hallowed organization.”
_ The Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, the civil rights leader who resigned Wednesday (Nov. 10) after four months as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He had been suspended the week before by the board of directors of the organization, which was co-founded by the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and has been dealing with internal power struggles. Shuttlesworth was quoted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
MO/LF RNS END
