Obviously the furthering of its religion among the faithful is the primary mission of any religious organization.
Tending to the needs of the poor and the sick comes next, though there are many of us who in balancing all needs, would place the poor and sick first.
Now we see that Bishop Robert Morlino believes, after weighing all of the needs and values of the Madison diocese, that closing the Catholic Multicultural Center is required in response to the financial crisis facing the Catholic Church in Madison. According to The Capital Times:
Other cost-saving measures include the continuation of an across-the-board salary freeze, pay cuts for some employees and the need for employees to pay more for their benefits.
The most noticeable cut will be the closing of the Catholic Multicultural Center, 1862 Beld St., which opened in 1946 as the Blessed Martin House and was expanded in 2002 to serve a growing underprivileged community on the city's south side.
Hopefully the church will gift the building to neighborhood organizations who have a different set of priorities. I am sure that Madisonians of all faiths and of no faith will join together to continue secular needs of the community.
I'm afraid that liberal Catholics of Madison have come to believe that it is the government's job to assist the poor.
Worse, there are some dissendent Catholics who think that withholding donations is a way to punish and apply political pressure to a bishop whom they dislike.
It's really not the Bishop's job to run a charity center. His job is to lead the Catholic faithful, and then the Catholic faithful should be be running charity programs.
Catholics need to support our Diocese, and also support charity work. I recommend people to make donations to Our Lady of Hope Clinic, which will provide healthcare to the working poor and uninsured. St. Vincent de Paul also needs cash donations, for directly helping the poor.
http://www.ourladyofhopeclinic.org/?p=0
Posted by: Del | May 29, 2009 at 02:37 PM
I absolutely believe it is the government's job to assist the poor. Private charities only offer the services they believe in.
Posted by: Katrina | May 29, 2009 at 03:38 PM
There are issues with priests in the Madison area. They do not want to support or obey their bishop, Bishop Robert Morlino. This has been brewing for a couple of years now and the media plays into it by highlighting only one side of the story. The media in Madison seems to have their sources only from an anti-Morlino crowd. (For a brief example, when the media jumped on the bandwagon about the Phoenix group suing the diocese, we never really got the back story about how certain priests were instrumental in getting that to happen.)
An influential group of priests have been busy behind the scenes once again, approaching their wealthier and/or more generous parishioners in past months, quietly, and with their "poor me" sob story, telling/asking their parishioners to withhold money from the diocese. The priests who share a dislike for the bishop have regular meetings and make sure that they spread their feelings among their flocks with hints and inuendos. This bishop is not perfect, he may lack charisma, but he is doing the job that is required of him. A sad percentage of the priests who "serve" with him mostly undermine him and are outlandishly disobedient to the vows they've taken, similarly the way husband and wife exchange vows in the Catholic Church. It's silly cloak and dagger stuff and you need to attend to this when deciding what to report or blog.
While it may not be necessary that you understand the culture of the Catholic Church, it may be necessary that you refrain from offering so little balance. The "gotcha" mentality that you and other Madison media indulge in only serves the boyish pranks the minority of "priests against the bishop" and plays into their misguided hands.
Posted by: Jane | May 29, 2009 at 07:41 PM
In the budget recently passed by the Joint Finance Committee, they specified that organizations that provide certain charitable services, such as low-income housing or disabled housing, are allowed to lease parts of their property tax-free, regardless of how the profits are used. I don't know whether the multicultural center would fall under that category, but it is interesting to wonder if that fact came into consideration for the Diocese.
Posted by: The Sconz | May 30, 2009 at 09:19 AM
Bishop Morlino a chairperson for the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly the School of the Americas, closes a building that supports Black and Latino social projects. Look up the history of this most holy.
Posted by: antpoppa | May 31, 2009 at 09:46 PM
Render unto Doyle the things which are Doyle’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.
Posted by: R.J. | June 01, 2009 at 09:29 AM
Jesus fed the hungrey, ministered to the poor, the sick, the old and the disenfranchised. He taught us with the story of the Good Samaritan.
The Bishop needs to go back to basics of the example of Jesus in Scripture.
Posted by: Catherine Fiore | June 10, 2009 at 10:40 AM
Morlino has been a thorn in the side of the Madison community ever since he blew into town. He insulted us all and then saw the community pull together to help the "abducted" UW student whose story later was debunked as a scam. He saw the community come together when St. Ray's burned. He has witnessed other acts of goodness by us all.
Morlino, as many of the hierarchy, has lost sight of his faith and his priesthood. He has become consumed by the power and the glory of his position.
Bishops O'Connor and O'Donnell have done so much to make the Madison community grow and prosper. We all now bear witness to a bishop who leads with mandates instead of through teaching.
The people are the church, not the hierarchy. Early Christian communities were gatherings of ordinary people. Let us not forget our role and continue to cater to those in need and less fortunate.
The Multicultural center is an excellent symbol of the diversity which brings us together and makes the Madison area unique and the great place to live that it is. It's not about a particular faith, it's about people caring and giving.
The Morlinos of the world will come and go, but the spirit and essence of our community will always be here and we will all be the better because of it.
Posted by: Franz Fripplfrappl | July 25, 2009 at 08:32 AM