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Darren's Blog Admin
November 27th, 2009
The Assumption church = €1.5 Million Debt
St. Matthew’s Church = €1 Million Debt
Its three week old news that was published in the Echo newspaper but I can’t help thinking about how ridiculous it is, like how the hell does two small churches manage to get so far into debt before telling anyone. You would think when they got into 1,000 or 10,000 debt they might realize they have a serious and try do something about instead of waiting on miracle to happen while they continue to keep spending getting further and further into debt.
St. Matthew’s Church excuse is that they spent 800,000 on refurbishments in 2008 and the rest was spent on running the church. It kind of sounds like a load of bullshit to be honest. The church didn’t need the luxuries of a big well kitted out extension for courses not run by the church or for people to drop in for a cup of tea. They should have left the whole drop in for a cup of tea thing to Daniel O’ Donnell. They have a kitchen already in the parish house for their friends to have a cup of tea; I just don’t see the point of a second kitchen if it leaves you in debt. And they didn’t need the new garden with all the expensive decorations and statues.
Fr O’Kelly of the Assumption seems to put some of the blame on the community for money that the community didn’t spend and says that,” with spiraling debts affecting parishes across the country, a number of steps are being taken to ensure the community takes on more responsibility”. I’m actually offended by that! I’m part of the community in Ballyfermot and I don’t go to church or even want to know about their services, so why would I need to take responsibility for business that someone else put into debt with luxuries they didn’t need in the first place such as a new decorated garden or gold cabinets. I always thought the role a priest was to serve Jesus and his people. But if you open your eyes you will realize that it’s being always being the people that have served the church and it’s priests instead of the other way around, masses, christens, weddings, funerals etc…the people always make large donations of cash to the church to cover luxuries, maintenance and salaries.
This next comment from Fr O’Kelly I think is hilarious and very ironic, Fr O’Kelly said: “Myself and Fr McGlynn have visited well over 300 houses already as a way of increasing our visibility in the parish and on our visits we have mentioned a need for support that the church has with regard to money”. So in other words they visited 300 not just for a friendly visit but with the agenda of asking for money off those people when people these days haven’t really got it to spare and I’m possibly correct in guessing the majority where old aged pensioners. I think I might try that, knock on a few doors and ask people “have you got any money that I could just have like”. But I have an idea what they might say to me and words would not be able to describe it.
All and anyways thanks for reading and drop a comment if you want.
For those who haven’t read the article in the Echo when it came out I’ll the article just below if you want take a read for yourself -
Churches crippled with debt
Published Date: 14 October 2009
Fr Michael O’Kelly explains that the costs have been incurred by providing a range of services in the large church, and by the redevelopment of the old presbytery into a pastoral centre.
Fr O’Kelly said: “Myself and Fr McGlynn have visited well over 300 houses already as a way of increasing our visibility in the parish and on our visits we have mentioned a need for support that the church has with regard to money.
“The response has been fantastic I must say.”
St Matthew’s Church on Blackditch Road was refurbished in 2008 at a cost of 800,000 euro and Fr Joe Ryan believes that the church must be a focal point for the community by providing courses, and meeting rooms and ‘being more than just a place to drop in for a cup of tea’.
He said: “We have found that people are more than willing to support fundraisers for refurbishment when they are complete but come five years and when we are still trying to raise money it might prove tougher.”
Fr O’Kelly concedes that the nature of the church in parishes may dramatically alter in the coming years.
He added: “At present the church would see about 150 funerals a year. That is a lot for two guys to handle.
“There used to be eight priests here in the late 1980s and with attendance numbers dropping, the church may well have just one priest in five years.”
Fr O’Kelly says that, with spiralling debts affecting parishes across the country, a number of steps are being taken to ensure the communitytakes on more responsibility.
He points out that parishes may be grouped together, parish councils, made up of community members, will take over the management of the parish, and visiting priests may become the norm.
He added: “A new programme is being introduced where deacons are being given more responsibility for church duties.
“They are a step down from priests and many of them are married. We have a deacon here at the moment and he is married.”
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