www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall The real reason for church closings?

To all:
I have relatives from the Parma Eparchy who told me that during Bishop Pataki's reign in Parma from 1984 thru 1995 there was a Priest sex abuse scandal?
If that is true, and people on this site said that Bishop Andrew Pataki closed 10 Churches and sold the real estate during that time, could that
be the same reason why Bishop Pataki is doing that now? And thats why all the secracy.
If that is true, the Bishop could be selling real estate in the Passaic Eparhcy to pay off large out of court settlements.
Why out of court settlements?
About 3 years ago and thru public knowledge from this websites local newspaper info, now deceased Father Danilak publically admitted to sexual abuse before he died. According to the local paper
Father Danilak had over a 100 count indictment against him but died before any trial.
Lawyers come out of the woodwork when there is a Catholic Priest sex abuse scandal.
Is it possible that Bishop Pataki's back is against the wall to come up with millions of dollars in lawsuit out of court settlements and thats why he is being so harsh on selling church
real estate? Could it be that he is really trying to save what is left of his Eparchy?
Is it possible that we are being unjustly harsh
on Bishop Pataki(including myself)?
This is only my speculation but nothing else makes any sense to me on why Bishop Pataki is
being so ruthless in closing churches and not disclosing why he is doing so.
And, maybe any Priest that stands in his way gets booted!
To my knowledge he only started closing churches about 2-3 years ago in the Passaic Eparchy.
This coincides with the Danilak public scandal.
What does anyone think about this?

Ehhh- I don't think so.
The Passaic eparchy has lost a lot of priests in the last 5 to 8 years, through sudden illness/death and then counting those who have just left to pursue other 'lifestyles' etc. The bishop doesn't often get much of a heads-up in most of the cases. Passaic is increasingly utilizing more and more loaner priests from RC dioceses or monasteries, taking on more and more parish responsibilities. Many homegrown priests have two to three parishes each right now, and many of these parishes have less than 100 families. Restructuring IS needed and I don't think anyone will disagree- it is actually long overdue.
The problem according to me is that Bp Pataki has no visible plan. It appears most of the actions taken are simply hasty 'reactions' to crisis situations,with very little or no communication. This is where it may appear he is vindictive and abusive.

Unfortunately for most older church leaders, their model is still kingdom/serf or shepherd/dumb herded sheep or some such craziness. The model itself needs to be updated. Like it or not, we in the US and in most of Western society live in a democratic model. Each generation becomes more educated than the last. In fact many of us are more educated than our church leaders. We deserve the respect of honest communication.

Another problem according to me is that it appears most of the eparchy's clergy are treated like children, some living in fear of what they percieve to be a harsh and abusive father. In turn, that filters down to most of the laity being treated like grubby barn animals. Who would put up with that type of degradation in this day and age? How do we grow ourselves out of that kind of mindset?

I think it is time to lay the cards on the table. Someone in leadership needs to look squarely at the problem of older buildings/older priests/decreasing membership/decreasing income/increasing costs, etc and come up with a VISIBLE restructuring plan. The leader needs to make a statement. The protopresbyters need to meet with the people in their designated areas and discuss statement with the short and long term plans for merging, etc. Using the favorite analogy of the Titanic, its time to admit to the passengers and to the world that 3/4 of the ship is under water. It does not mean failure. We can save some lives rather than risking the loss of it all. I believe everyone would feel much more secure knowing SOMEONE was taking charge of the rapidly sinking ship.

Sam

Dear Sam,

What you say is true, and we certainly need a plan for the future, you're absolutely right.

But Bishop Pataki has sold a lot of property, some of it very valuable. They say that some but not all, were parishes. What do you think has happened to all the money?

The suggestion is that it has gone for 'out of court settlements' in clergy abuse cases. I don't think we can rule out that these parishes were sacrificed for the greater good, ...keeping the bishop out of court.

Nick

[QUOTEBut Bishop Pataki has sold a lot of property, some of it very valuable. They say that some but not all, were parishes. What do you think has happened to all the money?

The suggestion is that it has gone for 'out of court settlements' in clergy abuse cases. I don't think we can rule out that these parishes were sacrificed for the greater good, ...keeping the bishop out of court] [/QUOTE]

I wouldn't think that was 'the greater good' but its all in one's perspective, lol.
Sadly, my not-so-humble opinion is that the $$$ is being hoarded for later in that huge piece of the pie chart called 'Reserve'. The grain is being stored in the barn just in case rather than being used to seed new missions in new areas. This says to me that evangelization and growth are not at all high on the list of priorities. What is the opposite of growth? Maybe when some people get to a certain age they can only see the slowing down or the end of times. They can't see the vibrancy of life going on behind them. Who knows? There is no communication.

Chotki,

If your scenario is true it certainly wouldn't be the first time that this bishop has been involved in this type of situation. Still, it is up to the Eparchy priests and laity to rise up and handle this situation.

Dan L

It is expected that money is being set aside for lawsuits. The problem is how Bishop Pataki is closing the parishes. Bishop Pataki does not take a kind, gentle, prayful, priestly approach. He takes an arogant "I am the King" approach which rubs off on his henchmen. It is not good for the church and it is not Christian. He has a history of problems in Parma. I recently heard he took money out of the priest retirement fund to payoff Rome. Thus the reason he has not been forced to retire. Interesting that Rev. George Malitz is on the Retirement board. Please pray for all Byzantine Cathloics that we can get through this.

Paying . . ah . . . "hush money" is seldom a good idea. What usually happens is that the victim loses the money and does not receive the hush! This is simply a form of blackmail.

Misappropriation of a retirement fund is a most serious charge. If true . . . well, I'm sure there are some lawyers who read the Forum.

Incognitus

This is a grave criminal accusation against your bishop.

If it is true, you have the duty to bring out these wrongdoings to the attention of the authorities, ecclesiastical and/or civil.

Otherwise, it is charitable to cease and desist from alleging an embezzlement without proof or witnesses. As they say, shut up or prove up!

This is getting ludicrous and ridiculous!

Amado

Incognitus,

As a priest don't you have a way to determine what is going on here? Couldn't some of the priests in Passaic help these people find the truth and get some redress?

CDL