Appeal donations up

His statistics refute a front-page report in the May 14 issue of the Albany Times Union, which was headlined: "Pledges to diocese off pace." The article attempted to link what turns out to be a non-existent drop in pledges to "anger over [the] priest scandal," as a secondary headline put it.

The TU article was based on anecdotal reports from only three churches (two in Albany and one in Clifton Park) and compared the current figures not against the corresponding ones at the same early point in last year's campaign but against each parish's goal at the end of the campaign.

Mr. Manning's figures, on the other hand, come from official tallies sent in by the more than 180 parishes in the Diocese. They show that donations to the 2002 campaign are at $3,789,264 versus $3,506,233 at a comparable time in 2001.

"These totals reflect just two or three weeks of a 10- or 11-week campaign," Mr. Manning noted, explaining that different parishes start the appeal at different times. "The Bishop's Appeal runs to June 28."

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