The name of this blog is Politics and Other Stuff. Posts are usually on one subject or the other, but today’s post merges the two. Politics and money impact both candidate politics and Church politics.
First, the Church.
The Buffalo Catholic Church has been struggling for many years with the damage that sexual abuse and harassment by some members of the clergy has had on the Diocese. Things are at the stage where some potential settlements with the victims of the abuse and harassment are being laid on the table.
Previous discussions about the total magnitude of the settlements were in the range of $100 million. More recently the number has been bumped up to $150 million. Is that the top line number or could it go even higher?
Last year the Diocese worked its way through what it calls the “Road to Renewal.” The Road had/has more potholes than a normal Buffalo winter. The general focus of the Road was on shrinking the number of functioning parishes. The reasons offered for those plans were a substantially reduced number of attendees at Mass; fewer priests; and declining parish finances.
The downsizing of the Diocese has been a painful process that has often pitted parishes against one another. Complicating the issues are the Diocese’s plans to reorganize the already reduced presence of Catholic schools.
As the size of a potential settlement package grows leadership has decided to go after all available sources of cash including Catholic Charities, the Diocese’s affiliated Cemetery Association, and most of all from the remaining parishes which are being required to fund more than half of the costs.
This past week the leadership of the Diocese held a series of parish meetings to let priests/administrators and councils know how much they must pay. Payments in the range of 10 to 80 percent of the parishes’ unrestricted savings are required. The richest parishes are expected to contribute a higher portion of their savings. (Not to change the subject, but there are parallels here with how Trump’s tariffs have been calculated.) Payments are due by July 15.
One parishioner at St. Benedict’s in Eggertsville, Nandor Forgach, told WBEN’s Susan Rose that the parish’s assessment was about $1.98 million. Other parishes in the vicinity are being charged amounts approaching $1 million.
Mr. Forgach suggested that this all ties into the Diocese’s plans to merge parishes. He told Rose “It’s clear. This is politics at play. If this doesn’t show it, I don’t know what else does.”
Many parishioners are not planning to comply with the Diocese’s financial assessments without a fight. Many of them have already appealed the churches’ closings and mergers to the Vatican.
Where all of this all ends up is anyone’s guess but it is certain that the process will continue to be divisive and messy. What would Jesus do?
The Greek Orthodox Church
There is only one Greek Orthodox Church in Western New York, the Church of the Annunciation located on Delaware Avenue in Buffalo; the parish has a second location in Lancaster. Recently the Church had its own financial problems, albeit involving a considerably lesser amount than the Catholics are dealing with.
The Church fired Rev. Dr. Christos Christakis after he admitted to misusing $365,000 in Church funds for personal expenses. WGRZ-TV’s reporting on the subject indicated that the amount in question was the same amount that Christakis himself admitted to. There is no reporting on whether there was a forensic audit of the amount in question or whether the Church has done annual audits of its finances that might have uncovered the missing money sooner. Church leadership, according to Channel 2’s reporting, appears to not be interested in having the Buffalo Police Department or the District Attorney pursue criminal charges.
Campaign financial reporting
The final campaign financial reports for candidates running in the June 24th primary elections were due at the state Board of Elections on June 13th covering transactions from May 20th through June 9th. Any contributions of $1,000 or more that are received after June 9th need to be reported to the Board of Elections within 24 hours of receipt of the money.
Here is a summary of the reports for the candidates in the Democratic primary for mayor of Buffalo and the Republican primary for supervisor in the Town of Amherst for that three-week period. R = raised; S = spent; and C = cash-on-hand:
Democratic primary for mayor of Buffalo
- Sean Ryan – R – $346,831 including $150,000 transferred from Ryan for Senate and $8,500 reported under the 24-hour-receipt rule; S – $402,241; C – $86,436 from two Committees
- Chris Scanlon – R – $164,419 including $21,000 reported under the 24-hour-receipt rule; S – $479,641; C – $340,338
- Anthony Tyson Thompson –no 11-Day pre-primary report on file as of June 17th ; from the late-filed 32-day-pre-primary report C – $3,380
- Garnell Whitfield – R – $905; S -$9,767; C -$5,488
- Rasheed Wyatt – R – $8,087; S – $17,899; C – $14,962
Republican primary for supervisor of Amherst
- Dan Gagliardo – R – $15,699, which includes a $10,000 personal loan; S – $12,009; C – $20,849
- Dennis Hoban – R – $50; S – $3,338; C – $37,004
Except for contributions of $1,000 or more which must be reported within 24 hours of receipt the post-election filings are due on July 15.
Early voting
Early voting continues every day through June 22. Here is a link to the Erie County Board of Election information about hours of operation and locations for early voting: EARLYVOTING 2022 AUG.pub
Publisher’s note
Given that the primary elections are on Tuesday, June 24th, the next edition of Politics and Other Stuff will be published on Wednesday, June 25th.
Bluesky @kenkruly
Twitter/X @kenkruly
Threads kenkruly
