Letters to the Portland Press Herald about Bishop Malone's new residence

June 28, 2011

Bishop's move to Falmouth panned

As a Catholic, I was always disturbed that the bishops lived in a mansion on the Western Promenade. I am now even more disturbed to read that Bishop Richard Malone is now moving to a $599,000 home in a Falmouth subdivision. What is he thinking? How does it look to read that he is closing the Cathedral School after 145 years and then he purchases a fancy new home in Falmouth for himself?

It would seem to make more sense to move to an unused or under-used rectory in the Portland area. Shouldn't he live in the Cathedral rectory? When my wife and I were forced to downsize because of job losses, we moved to a 985-square- foot double-wide mobile home in Old Orchard Beach.

A few years ago, we signed onto a three-year capital campaign to upgrade our church and parish hall. Soon after we completed the project, the church was closed and torn down.

The bishop doesn't seem to be a good steward of our money. That is why we no longer contribute to the annual campaign for programs in the diocese.

Peter Warzinski

Old Orchard Beach

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Learning that Bishop Richard Malone will be moving from the Western Prom mansion to a home in Falmouth worth over half a million dollars doesn't sit well with many Catholics.

In a June 21 Portland Press Herald ar ticle by Dennis Hoey, Sue Bernard, spokeswoman for the diocese, was quoted as saying, "everyone, in this economy, wants to do practical things."

This is practical downsizing? It's like moving from the Taj Mahal to the Samoset Resort.

The Catholic Church faithful could have advised the diocese on what is practical and should h ave been consulted, given that the Church expects to financially support this move to yet another over-the-top home. Did they think we wouldn't notice?

We certainly have noticed the loss of parishes and priests, and the closing of Cathedral School, as well as the admonitions to step up our general financial support.

The Dioce se of Portland owns several properties with ample room for Bishop Malone in which he would have been adequately taken care of. The diocesan finance committee is charged with ensuring the financial soundness of the diocese, and is accountable for the use of resources for expenses authorized by Bishop Malone. It may be that Bishop Malone has underestimated just how much Catholics can swallow before it sticks in the craw.

Smart town and city managers know you should never underestimate public outrage. I don't choose to financially support the bishop's new living quarters. That decision will be reflected in what I place in the Sunday offering from now on .

Jamie Beecher

Portland

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My pleasure turned to pain and outrage as I read the article in the June 22 Press Herald ("Bishop giving up Portland mansion"). As I started reading it, I was really pleased that the Roman Catholic diocese realized that stockpiling money in a "mansion" just wasn't the thing to do in these days and times. But my feelings rapidly changed as I read that the diocese had bought a house in Falmouth for approximately $600,000. Quoting the spokesperson for the diocese, "We want to be good stewards of the money we have."

I am not Roman Catholic but rather Episcopalian. I run an essentials pantry that serves 300-plus Portland residents each Tuesday. I see close-up and personal the real, practical needs of recent immigrants, refugees and just people of all kinds who are suffering in this economy.

I fantasize about what even a fourth o f $600,000 could do to help so many.

As a Christian, I ask myself all the time, "What would Jesus do?" I truly don't feel he would write a check for $600,000 to house one man when the needs of many are just so obvious. I only know what I know about the local Catholic diocese by reading the paper, but might there be a vacant rectory or two sitting around that could possibly house one man?

Richard L. Rasner

Portland

Bishop Malone's sermon for child sex abuse victims was all hot air

IGNATIUS GROUP_____

OPINION by Paul Kendrick

Bishop Malone's "Healing Mass" sermon for abuse victims and survivors was just more hot air.

It was all "holy talk," no substance.

Malone must stop playing his silly games and start acting like an adult who, when it comes to the issue of child protection, sees himself as a concerned community member.

1) In his homily, Malone said that he is "scandalized" by recent reports of sexual abuse by clergy and consecrated religious in Europe.

Malone neglected to say that when he was an Auxilliary bishop in Boston, he had at least three child abuser priests secretly working for him in parishes. In addition, Rev. Paul Miceli (Malone's best friend and Cape Cod housemate), helped transfer abuser priests from parish to parish when he served as Cardinal Law's Secretary of Ministerial Personnel.

2) In his homily, Malone said that he finds himself "sick with anger and grief and almost desperation as he sees news report after report detailing the devastation caused for so many children."

If he's so concerned about protecting children from harm, why didn't Malone warn Falmouth police and school officials when one of his employees, an admitted child molester priest (Rev. John Audibert), moved into a Falmouth neighborhood?

3) In his homily, Malone blames the sexual abuse of children on ministers of the Church, ordained priests, consecrated religious and lay Church members for the harms inflicted upon children as a result of their sexual abuse.

Conveniently, Malone failed to address the role of senior church leaders and bishops (like himself) for protecting offenders and transferring abuser priests from parish to parish.
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Diocese audit does not account for secrecy

Bishop Richard Malone is still keeping secrets.

That's why we're only finding out now that, from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009, eleven more child sex abuse victims reported that they were molested by five living and four deceased priests.

Even as he reports the numbers, Bishop Malone won't tell us the names of the nine accused priests and how many more children each priest has abused.

When child abusers are identified, victims may learn for the first time that they are not the only one. Or, if it is now known that a previously accused priest abused a child in a different parish or school, this information may help other victims to feel strong enough to reach out for help.

According to a statement issued by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, the diocese has been found in full compliance with the articles of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The independent audit evaluates the effectiveness of child protection policies and practices and reviewed the period from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009.

The audit was conducted this fall by the Gavin Group, an independent company of investigators led by Bill Gavin, who has nearly 30 years experience with the FBI

Background

In April 2002, former Bishop Joseph Gerry turned over the names and files of all accused living and deceased priests from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland to the Maine Attorney General.

Almost two years later, the Attorney General’s Report was released to the public. See also the attorney general's investigative materials released on May 27, 2005 and July 8, 2005.

A database of accused living and deceased priests from the Diocese of Portland is posted on BishopAccountability.org.

Here's what the Audit failed to report

During the audit period, eleven individuals came forward with accusations of sexual abuse that date back from 30 to 70 years ago.

1) These claims involved nine priests of which four are dead;

--- What are the names of the deceased priests?

2) One priest was laicized (returned to the lay state) years before the complaint was received;

--- What is this priest's name? Where and when did the abuse occur?

3) Two had already been restricted from public ministry;

--- What are the priests' names? Where did the abuse occur? What years? How will additional allegations against these priests affect their cases?

4) One is unidentified (meaning the name provided could not be connected to any priest who ever served in the diocese) and;

5) One is in a religious order (this claim was referred to the religious superior for final resolution).

--- What is the priest's name? What is the religious order? Where did the abuse occur (parish, school, etc.)?

6) Nine of the complaints have been investigated and the process completed–six of the accusations have been substantiated.

--- What are the priest's names? Where did the abuse occur?

Houses of worship close as house of bishop eats up cash

Portland Press Herald

BILL NEMITZ

August 28, 2009

The more the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland shutters its churches and puts them on the real estate market, the larger the question looms: Should Maine's bishop still be living in a million-dollar mansion?

It's on Portland's tony Western Promenade. According to city tax records, the 6,970-square-foot, three-story "mansion" has six bedrooms, 4 baths, an 840-square-foot garage and an assessed value of $1,126,000.

In short, pretty nice digs by anyone's standards. Too nice, according to at least one perennial thorn in the side of Bishop Richard Malone.

"It's not about Richard Malone," said Paul Kendrick, a Roman Catholic who for years has publicly decried the church's handling of the sexual abuse of children by priests. "It's about 'What kind of church is this?'"

Kendrick fired off a mass-distribution e-mail this week after hearing that five churches – Notre Dame de Lourdes Church in Saco, St. Mary of the Assumption and St. Andre churches in Biddeford, and St. Joseph and St. Patrick churches in Lewiston – will close this year and next because of shrinking congregations, growing costs to maintain the buildings and the need to protect religious programs and services from ever-increasing parish deficits.

"Bishop Malone wants Maine's Catholics to cut costs, spend less and do without," observed Kendrick. "Everyone, that is, but him."

Tough words, to be sure, from a man who last year was threatened with official church sanctions (not to mention police arrest) if he didn't steer clear of Malone.

Still, it's not the first time in recent years that the opulence of a bishop's residence has raised eyebrows – and in a few cases, led to "For Sale" signs.

Six years ago, as the Archdiocese of Boston struggled to pay for legal claims by those sexually abused by priests, Cardinal Sean O'Malley sold the palatial cardinal's residence in Brighton, Mass., and moved into the rectory of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston's South End. The move, which caught many by surprise, won O'Malley widespread praise, even from the archdiocese's harshest critics.

Last fall, Bishop David Zubik of the Diocese of Pittsburgh put his residence up for sale and moved into a seminary to be closer to those studying to be priests. The Rev. Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the diocese, said this week that the property, valued last fall at $1.5 million, is now under contract and will likely be sold within the next few weeks.

Zubik told the media last fall that his decision reflects "more pressing concerns" facing the diocese as it struggles to make ends meet and at the same time fulfill its basic missions, including "reaching out to the poor."

"People think it's good that he is moving in with the seminarians," said Lengwin. "And that it's good for the church."

Then there's the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, where Bishop George Murry put his suburban residence on the market for $339,000 three months ago and moved into a smaller home in the city. Murry also announced that many furnishings from the stately five-bedroom home would be donated to Catholic Charities.

Diocese of Youngstown Chancellor Nancy Yuhasz said Thursday that although the property has not yet been sold, Murry's decision has been "received very well by the parishioners and the clergy." The old residence "is so large and such an expense," Yuhasz said. "It shows we're trying to be good stewards of our resources."

Back here in Portland, diocesan spokeswoman Sue Bernard said it would be a mistake to assume a connection between what it costs to run the diocese – including, for example, the $19,620 annual property-tax bill for the bishop's residence – and the ongoing efforts to bring various parishes' property more in line with their current needs.

(The diocese's operations are funded from a variety of sources, Bernard said, including a 12 percent levy on each parish's total revenue and a bishop's fundraising appeal made directly each year to Maine's estimated 200,000 Roman Catholics.)

Malone's charge to the parishes, Bernard noted, has been to determine "What do you need? Take a look at what you need and see if there's an excess there."

But might the same challenge be put to the bishop? Considering that he lives alone, does he truly need six bedrooms, four bathrooms, a three-car garage?

Bernard noted that the mansion, which has served as the bishop's residence since Bishop Joseph McCarthy purchased it for the diocese back in 1939, is used to entertain visitors to the diocese and for other social functions.

"He lives there by himself," she said, "but he isn't the only one who uses it."

What's more, Bernard said, while it's in a "lovely neighborhood," the interior could use some work. "There's wallpaper coming off in some places, peeling paint."

So why not sell it and move into the rectory at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, where Maine's bishops lived before 1939?

In addition to generating, say, a million dollars from a sale and saving another $25,000 or so in annual operating expenses, might not such a downsizing send a powerful message to Maine's Roman Catholics about living within one's needs in these austere times?

"I'm sure there are people who would agree," Bernard conceded.

Starting, of course, with Kendrick, who titled his latest missive "Do Catholics in Biddeford, Saco and Lewiston know about this?"

"We're talking about the parishioners' money," Kendrick said, "and there's too much else to do with it."

Columnist Bill Nemitz can be contacted at 791-6323 or at:
bnemitz@pressherald.com

Bishop Malone's decision to live by himself in a million dollar mansion is a symptom of a much larger problem in the Church

We know of a Sudan family with six children who immigrated to Portland with the assistance of Catholic Charities' Refugee Services. The family has little money and live in subsidized housing. Every Sunday, the entire family attends Mass at the Cathedral. The kids are all dressed up. When the collection plate is passed, Mom and Dad reach deep into their pockets to help their church. Little do they know that their donation is helping to pay for the mansion's upkeep or to fill the bishop's oil tank.

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We want Bishop Malone to answer two questions:

• "What does Jesus (really) expect of us?"
• "How does every decision you make affect, enable or involve the poor?"

We want Bishop Malone to post a large sign on the front lawn of the Roman Catholic Chancery that includes these words:

• 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
• When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
• When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'
• And he will say to them in reply,
• Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'

The Hypocrisy of Bishop Richard J. Malone

Why are Catholics in Biddeford, Saco and Lewiston so upset?

Bishop Malone says he is closing their parishes because the cost of operating and maintaining the churches has been on the rise.

Wait a minute. What about the rising cost of operating and maintaining Bishop Malone's 7,000 sq. ft., three story brick mansion?

Does everyone know that the bishop lives by himself in a 16 room home that includes 6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and a 3 car garage?

The mansion and surrounding property is assessed by the City of Portland at $1 million.

Property taxes alone amount to more than $18,000 per year.

The bishop won't say how much it costs to heat his 7,000 sq. ft. home.

Here's the bottom line. Bishop Malone wants Maine's Catholics to cut costs, spend less and do without.

Everyone that is, but him.
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Diocese Plans to Close Five Churches in Biddeford, Saco and Lewiston

MPBN The Maine Public Broadcasting Network

08/24/2009

The Diocese says the churches are too expensive to operate and maintain in the face of a decline in parishioners.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland says it plans to close five churches in Biddeford, Saco and Lewiston. The Diocese says Notre Dame de Lourdes Church in Saco and St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Biddeford will be closing as of December 31st of this year, and St. Andre Church in Biddeford will close in December of next year.

The Diocese says the Catholic population has declined, and over the past five years, the parish has seen twice as many burials as baptisms. Meanwhile, the cost of maintaining and operating the churches has been on the rise, resulting in a $48,000 deficit for the fiscal year that ended in June, and a projected $170,000 shortfall for next year.

The Diocese says plans are also in the works to close two churches in Lewiston -- St. Joseph and St. Patrick. A task force recommended the closings in March, concluding that the churches were too expensive to maintain and operate in the face of a decline in parishioners. Under the plan, the churches would be closed this fall and put on the market, along with their rectories. The plan requires the approval of Bishop Richard Malone.