Our Parish Community

No reply for ignorance. Good day to you and may God bless you.

All of you fools need to take a deep breath and get both sides of the story. We fully support Fr. Donahue. He is a man of God and has valid reasons for his actions. All you fools should keep your dumb mouths shut. Your the ones who show up late for Mass and gossip. You support welfare and all the social ills... the Catholic Church will be fine without you and your dollar donation. A lot of us support Fr. Donahue a very good Holy man.

The purpose for committees is, often an advisory role and nothing more. In other instances the committee is the action instrument for change and review. In either case all parish committees should publish pertinent information, suggestions, actions, recommendations, etc., that effect the members. Therefore, I am suggesting that the parishioners be kept informed, in whatever detail they deem necessary, as to the management of the parish and the process by which decisions are made. The committee members, deacons, financial advisors and members of the clergy are to serve the members in a transparent and thoughtful manner in all matters. The task is not always easy or without some energetic debate but let's put all the cards on the table and see what kind of hand we have been dealt. Thank you, Mike Glynn

"Inconsistency on the part of pastors and the faithful between what they say and what they do, between word and manner of life, is undermining the Church's credibility," the pontiff said in his homily. "Those who listen to us and observe us must be able to see in our actions what they hear from our lips, and so give glory to God!" Pope Francis What was said at Mass today was one man's opinion (a clergy no less) stating that he alone knows it all and all is well at St. A's and then proceeds to say that all those who signed the petition, called, emailed, etc. are supporting " an ill advised statement that is clearly unsubstantiated by the facts". Really?? Says who?? Let's make this simple...we do not need a long drawn out, delay tactic audit....we need to know that there are checks and balances in place, that there is transparency in the workings in the parish and that actions taken by our Pastor should reflect the Christian human dignity Jesus taught us.

After 20 years of services attended, my marraige, my 3 children's milestones, I will not attend St A's not donate until Fr. Donahue has been reassigned.

I appreciate the comments at mass about an independent group looking into the parish finances; it acknowledges that our emails have been read since we have received no other indication until tonight. My concerns are not about the need for a complete and expensive audit of all the parish accounts again by some outside source but rather an investigation and clearance that standard accounting guidelines and safeguards are in place. Again I am asking the finance committee to look at the last year end report and then sign off if it is correct. That we as parishioners have some say in how, when and where our monies are spent. That any expenditure over $10,000 be approved by our Finance Committee and that the Pastor is not the sole source of financial information for this committee. That meetings are publicized with the agenda, information is forwarded to the parishioners, and that if someone wants a financial statement from a finance meeting they are available anytime at the church office. The concern is not about misappropriation of funds but rather the lack of oversight by a well informed and interested committee. There is also concern about Deacon Dahl serving on the school finance committee, the church finance committee, and the Diocese finance committee may be seen as a conflict of interest. I feel it is best for a clear cut examination of the current checks and balances that he not represent or be part of this task. Again, I would appreciate a much quicker resolution to our concerns versus a long drawn out audit that we did not request. Praying for our Church Julie Lovie

The petition implies serious concerns. It is sad several people made public to the whole Napa community those concerns. Sharing them with the bishop privately could have been another approach.

Paul, we are aware that the checks and balances are in place, the question is are they being used. According to the Financial Committee's guidelines, anyone should be able to walk into the rectory office and ask for the most recent statement. Come Monday morning, can anyone go in and ask for the March statement? Will there be a signed statement, that all Finance Committees have reviewed and signed, verifying that it is correct? Or are we going to be told that Fr. Donahue has to make some changes to it and we once again will have to wait for it? Just so you know, we do not want to wait long, we want March's statement, that has not been fixed since then. This is the urgency of this group. If everyone had been doing their job, the financial statement would be available NOW!!! No one should be waiting for 6 months for Fr. Donahue to answer their questions. Fr. Cleary and Msgr. Joe didn't hide anything. They gave the answers at that moment.

Shannon, thank you for your post. Agreed, we are not a mob, but some of the comments were not sounding like individual thoughts, and it was to those comments that I asking everyone to slow down. Yes, the committee received the email you mentioned. The committee hears your concerns, and will be meeting very soon to respond. We request everyone's patience. Please also be assured that checks and balances, and more importantly, internal controls, are in place and appear to be functioning properly. The financial statements prepared by the independent bookkeeper are reviewed by the committee, and detail questions are resolved. Based on the statements issued, Fr. Donahue appears to be financially prudent, properly conservative, and is not spending money irrationally. This parish is doing very well on so many fronts.

We are not a mob. We are a group of people that have been concerned for over a year now to ask the questions about our parishes finances. The finance committee has not been following the guidelines of the Finance Committee. And, yes we had them verified by Msgr Whelton. They are still active guidelines. People have been publicly asking these questions at the Pastoral Council Meetings since last October. Fr. Donahue responds with I will have to get back to you. The interesting part to that is these same people are still waiting for the answers to the repeated question. The following email went out to the Finance Committee recently: As a St. Apollinaris parishioner, I am concerned about the financial situation of our parish. It’s understood that the Diocesan guidelines are currently not being followed. I am requesting that there be a mandatory financial meeting held by the end of next week . What I want is a transparent financial statement that our finance committee has approved and signed off. This report should be presented to the parish at an announced and public forum. Also, what are the plans for the church repairs, the cost, the timeframe? Also who is going to replace Sr. Peggy, Paul McKeever, Jo Savage and how is the parish going to cover these costs? Per the Parish Guidelines The Parish Finance Council must meet a minimum of four times per year. An agenda is to be prepared and published before each meeting of the council. Parish Finance Council meetings are to be open to all parishioners. Minutes of all meetings must be maintained in the parish archive and available for inspection by the Bishop or his delegates when requested. This is not an attack, this is request for everyone to do their jobs correctly. We want the checks and balances back in place. These questions have gone public, because Fr. Donahue fired the one person that was checking on him. St. A's people need to ask the questions, it is our right to know what Fr. Donahue plan

11 years ago Featured

Mr. Collins, I think I can say that what Fr. Bill, as you refer to him, has done "behind the scenes" is the issue. Please be more transparent and share this information. It will help everyone take a breath. I think the parish deserves nothing less.

Mr. Hoffman, If this was a movie, you could just sit back and wait for the credits to roll. This is not an angry mob. We have not asked for much. No pitch forks, no torches, no lynching. You have been asked to produce documentation that shows our parish has the checks in place for the financial stability. I believe that nothing has been taken, and there is still time to repair this. Could you shed some light on the other side of the story?

For those who are appalled at the egregious action by taken by our pastor towards our secretary Jo Savage should send their box of weekly donation envelopes in protest to: Bishop Robert Vasa 985 Airway Court Santa Rosa, Ca. 95403. Nothing else will get the attention of the Bishop.

This is the part of the movie where the mob, armed with pitchforks and torches, demands a lynching based on hearsay and misguided group think. The level of this rhetoric is getting us nowhere except a potentially torn community. All of us know that facts can be distorted, and events may not be what they first appear. Based on my years working with Fr. Bill, he is not the demon being portrayed by several people here. Please give serious and prayerful thought to this before getting caught up in the momentum. There may be more than a single side to this story.

Everyone needs to take a breath, I have worked closely with Fr. Bill since he arrived. He has done so many things behind the scenes to fix problems left by Msgr. Joe (who by the way, I really liked personally). He has only had the interests of our Parish in mind. The facts will ultimately come out and I am afraid that many people will regret this mob mentality. Please dial down the rhetoric and give out pastor the benefit of the doubt, he deserves nothing less!

St. A's Parish is in serious trouble and in deep anguish & pain The immediate termination of our parish secretary of 30 years, without cause or due process/HR practice standards leaves us legally exposed. But more important is that---- She was the heart & cornerstone for our parish; & she was central to inter-parish communication & coordination. Her sudden dismissal feels like a traumatic amputation. The harsh unchristian treatment of her leaves an open raw wound in our parish community. Additionally: We are a highly developed/involved, active parish community with a long history of a collaborative & supportive relationship with our past pastors to build & maintain our parish & programs. Our current and relatively new pastor has a leadership style that has been challenging for the parish. He seems to restrict rather than welcome help & support from parishioners. He is not following the parish's operational policies/procedures and resists communicating and reporting the status of our parish. The result is a parish dealing with loss & grief, and high anxieties and anger.

As a member of the parish community I would like to see more transparency in the workings of the parish.

So sad to see what is happening at our parish. Hoping for some sort of resolution, starting with rehiring Jo a Savage, our secretary, as well as taking a close look at the current leadership in place.

This is my parish and I care.

I am a participating person in the parish and would like more transparency in the parish with our leadership.