I think that I understand the discussion now. There were some posts, not by the RCTV people, but posters, that were not quite accurate.
I asked this question once and it was explained to me that Catholic Answers is not part of the Archdiocese of San Diego.
I do know that to use the name Catholic, any organization must have the permission of the diocesan bishop. That’s in canon law. There is a difference between saying that we’re a group of Catholics that does ABC and we’re a Catholic group that does ABC. It’s a fine line. But one does have to be careful there. If you’re in a court and you’re challenged on your connection to the Catholic Church you have to be able to prove that you have permission of the Church to operate as a Catholic organization, even if you’re not part of a diocese. Maybe that’s what the poster did not know when he said that CA is under the watchful eye of the bishop of San Diego. I don’t work for CA, so I have no inside information about its relationship with the local bishop. The best place to get that answer would be to write CA.
Even religious orders that run our own ministries, with our funds and our people, must have the diocesan bishop’s permission to use the name Catholic. Otherwise, the bishop reserves the right to refuse you admission to any place in his diocese. If we depend on the faithful for funding, we have to be able to apply to them for assistance. That’s going to happen at the parishes. That’s why many organizations ask for the approval of the local bishop. My guess is that the poster did not understand this.
There was another post, I’m not sure who the poster was, about the pro-life mother passing out materials. Catholic pro-life organizations provide the materials free of charge. Our diocesan Respect Life Ministry does not charge for materials. Every pregnancy center distributes thousands of dollars in literature, videos, evangelization materials, baby equipment, baby articles, food and thousands of hours of talks, lectures, classes, counseling, even cribs and car seats. We do not charge for it. Our donations come from prayer. The brothers pray and we get what we need. I know many diocesan pro-life programs around the country that are fully funded by benefactors. Obviously, because those programs operate out of the diocese, they must answer to the local bishop. That stands to reason. But the person who said that such a relationship is corrupt is mistaken. It sounded as if the person believes that a relationship with the local bishop is automatically corrupt. The person was wrong to suggest this.
As to EWTN, the programming is not paid for by the cable companies that put it on the air. In fact, EWTN has to pay for licenses and so forth. EWTN is viewer supported. Until they transferred over to a non-profict corporation run by lay people, they were totally Franciscan. The Poor Clares owned it and they operated it from donations. However, there is one thing that did happen. Mother saved money from the sale of fishing lures. EWTN is a real miracle, if you stop to think about it.
AirMaria is another Franciscan apostolate that is completely funded by the Franciscans. The friars beg and they receive the funds to operate it.
The people who responded to the blog are missing information. That does not mean that RCTV is wrong for charging $10.00. The mistakes were made by the posters.
I wish that people would not make such comments unless they have the information, especially about the pro-life work. That’s a very important ministry. It is important that it continue and that if it is referred to as an example, that the information be very accurate. I know other pro-life ministries, Catholic and Protestant, that do wonderful work. They depend on benefactors. Priests For Life comes to mind right away, but there are many others that I can’t remember right now.
Most dioceses cannot afford to finance pro-life ministries in their entirety. They have Respect Life Sundays to raise funds at the local parishes. The ministries operate with volunteers, thousands of hours of volunteers. Many of them are professionals who donate time: physicians, nurses, social workers, counselors, adoption counselors, financial experts, accountants, secretaries, teachers, men and women religious, deacons and priests. These folks do have other jobs. But with everyone pulling together and each person putting in several hours a month, you’d be surpsied at how many thousands of hours of service is provided. If we were to pay salaries we would have to sell St. Patrick’s in NY. LOL
In my own community, we have many brothers who do Respect Life Ministry full-time. Only one is on salary. His salary supports more than eight of us. If you know anything about religious and salaries, the average religious is paid about 1/4 of what another professional with the same academic training is paid and no benefits. We get no insurance, no retirement, no free housing, no car allowance, no car, no maintenance to help pay for rent, utilities, telephone and the bills around the house. We literally have no medical insurance or retirement. Those of us who paid into Social Security once upon a time get that benefit when we reach retirement age or become disabled. But that’s absorbed to support us all. I’m very defensive of pro-life work, because it’s the greatest challenge to the faith today. It’s a necessary ministry and one that functions well around the country.
It is important that the average person not say things about the finances of any organization with such certainty. There are many things that are not known by the public, because it is not necessary to share them. But they are not trade secrets either. If you ask, you will get an honest answer.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
Sometimes is really truly is ---- honest! What a concept.
