2001 LETTERS
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Contents © 2001
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

MAY 2001 LETTERS

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Although I have been critical of your coverage of University of San Diego High School issues in the past, I commend you for your article (April, "It Looks Like It's Going To Happen") concerning the closing of this most successful and valuable resource to our San Diego Catholic community.

As president of Uni's school board several years ago, I personally briefed Bishop Brom on the wide range of Catholic families touched by Uni and the well known success of the school. Unfortunately, his desire to build a new campus, accompanied by an inexplicable disregard for Uni, has led him to the unsupportable conclusion that Uni's Linda Vista campus must be closed in order to build a new school in Del Mar. When this decision was apparently made two years ago, a variety of reasons were given the Uni community: North County needs its own school, the Uni campus is too small, and the one least understandable, the Uni community should "sacrifice" for the greater good of the diocese. Each of these is patently false: the Del Mar campus hardly serves "North County" while the Uni campus, while small, has the potential to support a thriving first-rate institution as it has for thirty years. Finally, the notion that it's time for Uni and its families to step aside for the good of the yet-to-be-built school is something akin to moral extortion. The cynicism of this argument was matched by diocesan efforts to convince those of us involved in Uni at the time that we were sharing in some great adventure by witnessing our school's demise.

In the end, the decision to close Uni in favor of the new Del Mar campus comes down to money. The bishop needs the funds that will be generated by the sale of the small but valuable chunk of land Uni sits on to finance the Del Mar site. The Uni family is truly being asked to sacrifice for the newer school. Most mystifying is the obvious need for the Linda Vista campus: the school is at its highest enrollment ever and was carrying a waiting list for all four grades when the announcement that it would close was made. Clearly, the bishop should reconsider his decision to close the Linda Vista campus and instead dedicate the resources needed to make Uni the up-to-date facility its success merits. There is more than enough of a "market" to support both Uni and the Del Mar site.

Sadly, the Catholic community has not openly articulated its concerns over closing Uni. While these concerns have been raised extensively in private, our willingness to accept Bishop Brom's decision quietly has ensured that this institution which has given so much to our children will pass from the scene unchallenged. Even worse, as your article points out, a large portion of the center city is being disenfranchised by the Church for no good reason.

Terry McKearney
Mission Valley


SUGGESTIONS FOR DIOCESE

Suggested changes to improve a system that is not working:

1) The Financial Council. To better reflect the financial profile of the diocese those parishes providing the greatest financial support deserve obvious Financial Council visibility. These parishes should comprise 70% of a ten-member Financial Council. The balance of the council should represent the poorest parishes. These council members should be appointed by the various parish councils. The Financial Council should number ten plus the two professionals. Term of office for the parish representatives should be limited to three years. An annual financial report should be published.

2) Social Programs. The diocese should divest itself of the social programs that can best be handled by the parishes. The offices that can easily be transferred to qualified and experienced pastors, assistant pastors, deacons, and qualified laity include: Hispanic Affairs, Adult Education, Liturgy and Spirituality, Marriage and Family Life, Missions Office, Multicultural Affairs, Permanent Deaconate, Priestly Vocations, Social Ministry, and Special Events. All Catholic Charities to be under the aegis of St. Vincent de Paul Village. The diocese will continue to be responsible for elementary and high school education.

3) Stewardship. What was purported to be a one-time fundraiser has become an ever growing malignancy on the individual parish financial efforts. concurrent with the downsizing of the diocesan social programs we suggest an immediate 70% reduction in the quota system. Thereafter a 5% reduction/year until the 30% level is achieved. This should improve the financial plight of those parishes in need of financial breathing room.

4) A Visible Shepherd. The bishop should make a physical appearance at times of triumph and at times of trauma. His one published weekly schedule should again be introduced in the pages of the Southern Cross. Our shepherd must socialize with all members of his flock. We require his rubbing elbows with our youth. We need his collegiality. We need him to present a warmth that will generate a spiritual renewal.

Anonymous
San Diego


DID WE GET ALL THE RESULTS?

I like to consider News Notes as the West Coast version of the Wanderer, and I find that weekly paper to be the most accurate, most trusted, and certainly the publication that is a must-read if one wants to know what is going on in today's Catholic Church. I guess that another way of saying it is that I even read the page numbers to ensure that I don't miss anything.

In the April News Notes there was a letter from a lady in Rancho Bernardo that was critical of your subscriber survey of churches of the diocese and in particular of the criticism of the Holy Cross choir, the director, and the organist.

While I thought the results of the survey could have been interesting, I don't believe that we were given the results. We were offered a few selected letters that probably represented a cross-section of those that you received. I did not participate because I did not think that I was in a position to offer criticism. I have attended daily mass for the last six-plus years, but only at one parish church, the Carmelite Monastery and the Latin Mass.

It would be very interesting if you could publish a table listing ALL the parishes that were reported on with the number of hits broken down into favorable and unfavorable. Perhaps this is asking for too much since I don't know the volume of mail you received. But if you decided this to be a worthwhile project; you can call on me for help.

Bill Borsch
Kensington

Editor: We printed all the responses to the church survey we received by press time.

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