HELPING THE NEEDY: Sending a message via Bishop's Appeal

Some Catholics in the Albany Diocese will probably pause before donating to this year's Bishop's Appeal, the annual campaign that supports Catholic schools, marriage preparation courses, charities for the poor and aged, assistance to unwed mothers, and an abundance of other worthwhile programs like campus ministry, continuing education for catechists and housing for the homeless (see pages 4-5).

The hesitation will be caused by the scandal of clergy sexual abuse. Some people will ask themselves: "What do I want to do more: help the needy, or send a message by withholding my money?"

The message they want to send might be an expression of anger that the scandal exists at all, or outrage over how the Diocese mishandled child abuse prior to the early 1990s. That's when a stringent policy was first put into place, a policy that has been bolstered over the last 12 months as the Diocese inaugurated a zero-tolerance policy, removed offending priests from ministry forever, offered counseling assistance to victims, and trained thousands of employees and volunteers to prevent abuse.

Another message might be more basic: "I am ashamed of my Church and Diocese." As Bishop Howard J. Hubbard has said, "The abuse of minors by Catholic priests is a scandal of monumental proportions that has embarrassed our Catholic people." Over and over again, during the past year, he has apologized in this newspaper, in other media and through letters to Catholics (visit the Diocese's website, www.rcda.org, to read some of his remarks).

Catholics who want to send messages like those have direct options: They can write to the Bishop (40 N. Main Ave., Albany 12203), or call the special 800-number set up by the Diocese to hear such views (800-931-6058). With those alternatives available, we hope that Catholics will not withhold or reduce their donation to the Bishop's Appeal. Doing so would unfairly hurt the needy, deprive children in Catholic schools, and diminish programs that strengthen marriage and family life.

Last year, in the midst of the scandal, Catholics in the Albany Diocese pondered their options and decided not to cancel or even lower their donations. On the contrary, they increased their gifts to the Appeal by nearly eight percent. Perhaps that was their way of saying -- to themselves and to the wider society -- that there are emotions among Catholics besides anger and embarrassment, emotions like pride in helping those in need and solidarity with one another in a time of trouble. Perhaps the increase was a way of Catholics saying that they were not going to hurt innocent bystanders -- the homeless, the elderly, children with developmental disabilities -- because of the sins of others.

Another increase in donations in 2003 will send a new message: "We love what we do for the elderly, the poor, children learning about their faith and others who need our help. We want to be part of good works that carry out the mission of Jesus. We are the members of the Church who are not the problem; we are the solution!"

(5/1/03) [[In-content Ad]]