I saw in the parish bulletin that our parish is at only 50% of the

[hedgehog]

amount that we're expected to pledge to the Bishop's Annual Appeal. This is the local name for the money that gets sent each year to support Diocesan offices. Each parish is assigned a target amount that must come directly from the parishioners or else the parish ponies up the difference. We're in the middle of a forced consolidation, so I suspect a lot of people are voting with their wallets. HAs anyone else seen this happening?

[Matilda]

1. Things are run the same way here.

The Archdiocese decides how much each parish should be donating to the quarterly Charitable Works
Fund, and if the money isn't raised by donation, the parish has to make up the difference. Our
priest appealed against the amount we were supposed to raise last year because although he says
we're always very generous, the amount they wanted was astronomical. I don't think it did any good
though.

[pnwmom]

2. Do they do the same thing with the Peter's Pence collection?

I have been deliberately opting out of that one. If they're just taking it anyway . . . how annoying.

[AngryOldDem]

3. Oh yeah.

Happens here all the time. The archdiocese sets an astronomical amount for each parish to cough up. The pleas in the weekly bulletin get more desperate as the weeks pass and the total is NOWHERE NEAR what it needs to be. It's sad. It sucks that the archdiocese gets its pound of flesh no matter what, and ultimately parishioners are told that if the parish doesn't ante up, it comes down to paying either the archbishop or the light bill. That is usually the gist of the last bulletin message before the bill comes due.

I absolutely HATE Church finances at the diocesan level and will NOT carte blanche give to a fund where money can be used for anything. When I donate, it's to a specific program or office. Not that I have done much donating lately.

Another galling thing -- maybe this is true everywhere, too -- the archbishop here has dictated that every Catholic household get the archdiocese newspaper, whether they want it or not. For my parish, this is an expense right off the bat of $25,000. There is an envelope for a "donation" to offset the cost, but like anything else I don't want, I don't pay for it.

[hedgehog]

4. We used to have a good newspaper until the latest bishop came in

and laid off the lay staff. He is the publisher, don't you know.