Wednesday, April 4, 2007

The death of Catholic education?

News from up North: The TIMES LEADER in Scranton reporting about Catholic education being in debt millions of dollars..

MORE:
"Bishop O’Reilly and Bishop Hoban high schools have a combined operating deficit of about $2 million, and need another $2.6 million in repairs, according to information released by the Diocese of Scranton. All Catholic schools in Luzerne, Lackawanna and Wayne counties have a total operating deficit exceeding $3.2 million, and owe $5.5 million to the diocese for loans

***

...Quinn urges Catholics who were upset at the closing of their schools to remember the big picture. "If they truly support Catholic education, and not just a particular building, now is the time to come forward with a financial commitment that will benefit the entire Catholic school system in the Diocese.""

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

It would appear that Mr. Quinn is a bigger liar than his boss, Bishop Martino.

The brutal truth of the entire matter concerning the demise of the Catholic schools in the northeastern tier of Pennsylvania stems entirely from the processing of lawsuits against the sexual behavior of wayward priests.

Anonymous said...

mr. connors, i think that's really unfair. do you have evidence to that effect? if you do not i suggest you keep your sordid opinions to yourself. of course the whole thing is tragic. we all agree on that. but please stop blaming everyone. try reading some of the info on these other postings which aren't so naive or emotional about the closings.

j.devitt

Anonymous said...

i think that may be libelous as well...

Anonymous said...

yea that is a little uncalled for

Anonymous said...

Three our fathers and two hail marys....on second thought that first comment may warrent an entire rosary!

Anonymous said...

lol. true enough. but all kidding aside. do you even realize at least two of the country's accused priests worked at CB? one was a principal a million years ago and the second was some guy who worked there in the 90s. i don't think he was even a priest then but whatever comes before being a priest. he was accused at the next school he was shuffled to, but he had a couple years in at CB. i forget the name but i know i googled him before so there's stuff on the net about him. the responsibility doesn't fall squarely on the bishop. you mean to tell me that the accused's peers, friends and colleagues in and out of the church don't have some buzz about his actions even before the bishop does? sure they do. and in a small town type of region its even worse. anyway, i miss the nuns. all nuns. even the mean ones. they're the only vestige of true christianity left in the church

Anonymous said...

Facinating.

Anonymous said...

All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, Worn out faces
Bright and early for the daily races
Going nowhere, Going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, No expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, No tomorrow

Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
And they feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, Sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, No one knew me
Hello teacher tell me whats my lesson
Look right through me, Look right through me

Chorus
And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad
These dreams in which i'm dying, Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take
When people run in circles it's a very very...
Mad World,
Mad World

Enlargen your world

Mad World

Anonymous said...

Hindsight isn't always 20/20. Mental Macular Degeneration seems to happen very often. Try judging the safety of a DeSoto against a New Chrysler and the best you can say is that the old car was more solid. A front end crash sent folks through the windshield or inro the dashboard. Safety measures got applied because of injuries.
Nobody can deny that child sexual abuse is (and was) a bad thing. The "crashes" of the 1950's through the '70's worked under vastly different models. Sometimes with the best of intentions the worst happened. Now things are engineered quite differently. There's plenty of blame for everybody to grap a handful themselves. The good priests in Catholic schools (There were always creeps.) have to bear the brunt of the creeps and the guidance I got as a kid can't happen as it did in the past. Nobody wants to foster immoral behavior and giving people second and third chances was generous, at least. Now there's no more of that anywhere and allegations pin blame on the bishops and pastors when many of them went with the prevailing psychological opinions of the day. That was a mistake, obviously. It still might be a mistake today.
Now about CBHS, those who loved the school were faithful and still are. The number of sisters, priests, teachers and others (even a bishop)that have their roots in Fountain Springs gives testimony to very good things. Even good things reach their end and gratitude mixes with grief like it does with everything else in life. Life is changed not ended/

Anonymous said...

yes, but cars aren't people, whatever metaphor you might use. while technological advances may change over time, human nature does not. it just doesn't. but you're right. the majority of priests are good people and shouldn't be shunned because of a few bad actors. but, to blame the school closings on that particular church scandal is totally ridiculous and verging on just stupid. how many cash payouts has the Allentown Diocese made yet? there IS enough blame to go around, between parents, teachers, administrators and the lot of them. the only ones not to blame are the kids. it's always the least culpable who get it the worst. it's sickening. i don't get it. why are people suddenly speaking up about the abuse in relation to a school closing when a few years ago, when it was a hot topic, most catholics were mum? talk about hypocrisy. the nuns should just rule everything. they'd do a hell of a better job.

Anonymous said...

i love it when people use elipseses (...) they're so daring and suspenseful, and they really turn me on

Anonymous said...

what a great way to usher in easter. overblown school closings and more groundless pedaphile accusations. maybe we should have a book-burning, too, as like a garnish. or maybe a public lynching? hmm. tastes like happy.

Anonymous said...

i just have one question for you all. De La Hoya or Mayweather?

Anonymous said...

this blog blows

Anonymous said...

Now, can someone clean up all of the signs along 61 saying vote yes and loving someone who cares.

Anonymous said...

i know, right? they had the gall to stick them on that doctor's face on that billboard, and other places. real mature

Anonymous said...

So now that there's a published timetable and a set of procedures in place and parishoners are included along with pastors in discussions, things might get interesting.

Anonymous said...

a timetable for what? i haven't been following lately..

Anonymous said...

There's a published timetable for the procedures regarding parishes and schools along with statistical information about the number of priests available for assignment over the next few years. I found it at allentowndiocese.org. Anybody with a basic grasp of arithmetic can see the "numbers" problem but this is bigger than numbers. It's scarey to think such drastic changes were left go until now because "people" would complain (That's one excuse a pastor told me.). Protestant churches have been facing these issues for years. So have the Orthodox and Byzantine parishes. Maybe Jim Conners is right about the wayward priests but there sure seems to be lots of wayward Catholics too.

Anonymous said...

thanks for that. i'll promptly look it up. and of course there are wayward priests, but, as you said, they're a very small number when compared to wayward catholics on the whole. this particular closing - or any - is not a direct effect of those handful of perverts. all the social and parochial demographics are in place for exactly this kind of shortfall. the whole thing is just so needless. and the finger-pointing is even more so.