Dear Editor,
Did anyone catch the LTE in the U.D. from Fr. Stephen Jones about an audit? It is available online at https://diojeffcity.org/finance-and-accounting/.
I have not had the chance to review it, but I am sure all the i’s are dotted and t’s crossed.
I still have a lot of questions that are not being answered.
The Early Childhood Center - who has actually paid for it and who has access to it? If it is being funded out of general revenue then it is being funded by all Catholics, but as I understand it is for diocesan employees only.
I have often wondered how many parishes have had money taken from them after they raised it for parish projects. Look at just how much was “appropriated” just in the Jeff City area. The Jeff City Diocese covers a very large area and most parishes have experienced a lot of cooperation with the bishop’s office when Bishop Gaydos was our bishop. Things are much different with Bishop McKnight - he wants to control every parish.
Fundraisers are another question. Each parish is only allowed one fundraiser every year. St. George has at least four - the picnic, the fall supper, the Taste of Italy and the Spring Fling. The bishop gets a substantial cut out of three of those. Money that could be used at St. George School.
Catholic schools - there are a lot of small Catholic schools throughout the diocese that are soley supported by their parish. They could be closed down and consolidated and that is a real possibility. Would you like to drive your kids to school - elementary school - say to Jeff City? Churches would be next - it is happening in St. Louis.
I know the availability of priests is a big concern - not enough to go around but then most of them are always on vacation or sabbatical. Who pays for their trips to Rome or the Holy Land? The bishop goes to Rome several times a year.
I at first thought that Bishop McKnight was counting on the wealth of the Jeff City Diocese to give him a pathway to Archbishop of somewhere. I now think there is much more to this and money is a big issue.
Just pay attention to what is going on in your parish before it is gone.
Kristie Scheulen
Loose Creek
