Monsignor William Lynn – Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Six Million Dollar Man

This is one of those I was looking for something else and found this instead kind of thing.

I was looking for the possible digital archives of the defunct Catholic Standard and Times for reference to articles of Msgr. Hawks of Saint Joan of Arc Parish in Harrowgate Philadelphia, its doors recently locked under the new Denver bean counter regime of Charles Chaput.

I also found the beginnings of a story about the Standard and Times announced shutting down, getting the axe for budgetary reasons and that 40 employees would lose their Jobs. As far as I can see about 25 full time employees got the sack. 

Being a tax free religious institution, the Archdiocese, employer at the Standard and Times is not liable to pay unemployment compensation to the 25 canned employees. There were also 20 freelance employees who more or less I would assume were self-employed contractors.

Through the transition, the old General Manager of the Standard is Matthew Gambino who probably handed out the pink slips and a holy card to departing fellow employees when the Standard was more or less put on line under the Catholic Philly site label.

Have seen a few headlines of Matthew Gambino who now is the Philly Archdiocese equivalent of one man with a computer a la Bill Donohue over at the Catholic League who being the PR man and gatekeeper to the Archdiocese of NYC.

And not to forget Gambino's many many articles at National Catholic Reporter and Catholic News Service.

Here is a sample of Matthew Gambino’s writing style and bedside manner that no doubt was one reason for the demise of the Catholic Standard and Times in Philly.

http://thomnickels.blogspot.com/2011/06/fear-and-loathing-at-philadelphia.html

A candidate for the Knight of Saint Gregory for his writing skills or merely keeping the secrets of the Devil’s Tower at 222 N 17 th Street, in his corner office, one or several floors below the Cardinal’s Penthouse Executive Suite on the top 13 th floor?

Well to get to the point, apparently the Archdiocese does expose or disclose what it calls a financial disclosure statement that admits to spending close to six million dollars on the Child Abuse Trial of Monsignor William Lynn in the following article.

http://catholicphilly.com/2013/07/local-news/local-catholic-news/archdiocesan-financial-report-shows-complex-factors-leading-to-huge-deficits/

The supplemental report indicates $534,000 was spent investigating the fraudulent actions of former archdiocesan CEO Anita Guzzardi, convicted in 2012 and currently serving a two-to-seven year sentence; $4.6 million spent on an investigation related to scores of archdiocesan priests placed on administrative leave from their duties as a result of the second Philadelphia Grand Jury on clergy sexual abuse; and $6.7 million spent on the criminal trial of a priest, and an independent legal and financial review of archdiocesan operations.

Of course, none of this keeps any of the inner city churches of Harrowgate or Frankford in Philly open. Those closings were not financial as they were more due to attendance and probably more so than that to the fact of the lack of priests to go around. 

Whatever.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/22/justice/pennsylvania-priest-abuse-trial

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The Death of the Catholic Standard and Times – an anticlimactic PR Release in Philly - Jobs Lost

June 1951

They are closing down the old Catholic Standard and Times in Philly.  Apparently there is a seventeen million dollar deficit in the archdiocese of Philadelphia, eleven million of which foolishly spent on the defense of monsignor Lynn and company.  The Catholic Standard and Times in Philly was where a good Catholic used to get a full dose of any Catholic story not carried or fully carried in the WASP Evening Bulletin, Daily News or Philadelphia Inquirer.

The once weekly newspaper was cut back to monthly over a year ago.  That tells you at the Catholic Brand is no longer a strong brand in Philly.  It says that the number of Catholic households that subscribe are down.  It tells you that fewer people bother to read these days.  Fewer advertisers too. That Public Relations and cash to the Catholic League for propaganda instead of Catholic news is deemed more important from on top and trickled down to the least common denominator nobody Catholic member still bothering to show up in a pew on any Sunday.

Philly Archdiocese cuts 45 jobs, closes Standard and Times

“These are good men and women who have served the Church well,” said Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M Cap. “I take this action with great reluctance, as one of several urgently needed steps to restore the local Church to a healthy financial footing. Every departing employee has the sincere gratitude of the Archdiocese and will be treated with maximum consideration.”

They have served their church well and now they can be discarded now that they are no longer needed. Typical GOP trickle down "humanity" speak. Now that Satan, the GOP, it would seem has taken over the Roman Catholic Church in America. Downsize, Outsource, Offshore Invest.

Forty odd jobs are disappearing with this ancient enterprise.  No history of its founding anywhere in Chaput’s chronically smug sounding PR pronouncement.  These pronouncements sound like they are written and rewritten and preformed verbally over and over again in front of a mirror or in front of toady subordinates that praise every sentence, word, comma, period.  One would think that archbishop Chaput has no time for sleep in his zealous discharge of his duties.  In fact, how can he sleep knowing that he is doing a slow decimation of the church of my ancestors in Philly.  Oh well.

I do remember that the Catholic Standard and Times as an institution goes back at least  to 1892 because the image of the 400^th Century Anniversary of Catholic Columbus’ discovery of America, from a stamp, was once part of the front page title header.

Whatever.  

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