Meeting Minutes

Of the Milwaukee Archdiocesan Priests’ Alliance

Convening Board

 

October 11, 2004

 

 

Present:            Kenneth Mich, Joe Hornacek, Brian Mason, Mike Erwin, Bill Burkert, Steve Amann, Alan Jurkus, John Lukaszewicz

 

Excused:           Dave Cooper

 

 

Prayer: Kenneth Mich led the opening prayer.

 

 

Review of the Minutes from the September 17th Meeting

 

 

Treasurer’s Report

 

Brian Mason reported the following:

 

            Balance as of 10/11/04             $3,969.80

 

            As of this date there are 124 priests registered as members of the Alliance.

 

September 30th General Meeting

 

Brian Mason distributed a first draft of minutes from the meeting and asked Convening Board members to forward any corrections or changes to him. Once they are approved, the minutes will be posted on the website.

 

Brian also gave an update on the number of members who have voted to date on the three documents discussed at the September 30th meeting:

  1. Letter to Archbishop Dolan asking for more consultation of the priests of the archdiocese when major decisions are made (i.e. the order of reception of 1st Reconciliation and 1st Eucharist;
  2. Letter to the Rev. Daniel Pakenham and the commission studying the future of the seminary asking that a collaborative formation environment continue to be present wherever seminarians for this archdiocese are trained;
  3. Letter to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick expressing our concerns to him and the committee of the USCCB that he chairs over the withholding of the Eucharist from politicians and the move away from preaching the value of all human life form conception to natural death.
    1. This letter will be sent to Archbishop Dolan and Bishop Sklba on Thursday, October 14th;
    2. The letter will be sent Cardinal McCarrick and BishopWilton Gregory on Friday, October 15th via express mail so that they receive  the letter on Saturday, October 16th;
    3. The letter will be sent to the Journal Sentinel and the Catholic Herald on Tuesday, October 19th.
    4. At the end of the letter, a line will be added stating that the Milwaukee Archdiocese Priests Alliance is made up of 124 diocesan and religious order priests serving the Archdiocese of Milwaukee;
    5. Bill Burkert’s name and address will be added as a contact person.

 

The Convening Board then discussed the final form the other 2 documents:

 

Seminary Commission Letter:

 

Letter to Archbishop Dolan:

 

 

Discussion of Issues/Focus Groups form the September 30th Meeting

 

  1. Calling for an Archdiocesan-wide plan for ministerial formation.
    1. The Convening Board felt this was an issue for the seminary to take up rather than the Alliance.
  2. Dissatisfaction with the message/philosophy/theology of Relevant Radio.
    1. The Convening Board did not feel there was much the Alliance could do about this.
  3. Continuation of Lay Preaching at Mass
    1. It seems that a directive will be issued to stop this practice
    2. Some priests have met with the Archbishop and have given him a rationale for continuing this practice
    3. The Archbishop says he understands all of the reasons for continuing the practice, but wants to remain faithful to Rome’s directives.
    4. Therefore, some feel there is not much we can do to change his position.
    5. Would there be enough passion among members of the Alliance to form a focus group on this issue?
    6. Ken Mich will contact those who attended the focus group on September 30th to see if there is any interest in working on this as a focus group.
  4. Affiliation as a separate group with the NFPC
    1. We will ask for more information form Jeff Haines who raised the issue
    2. Perhaps this would provide a way of networking with other priest groups across the country
  5. Archdiocesan Capital Campaign
    1. The Archbishop promised Joan Feiereisen that he would bring this up at the Fall Clergy Day, but did not
    2. Joan promised to keep on him about communicating this to the priests
  6. Vocations
    1. The issue was raised on whether or not we should send a monetary donation to the Priests’ Forum for Eucharist to help with the cost of doing a national mailing
    2. We need the group of priests who raised the issue to do more research on this.
  7. Use of Retired Priests in administration of parishes
    1. No written report was submitted following the September 30th meeting
    2. Bill Burkert will call Ed Wieland to get an idea of whether or not there is any interest in forming a focus group on this issue

 

There was also a good deal of discussion on the topic of the proper protocol for focus groups communicating with the Archbishop, the archdiocese or others in the name of the Alliance.  It was agreed that any communication that a focus groups wants to issue should first be submitted to the Convening Board for discussion and approval in order to keep the Alliance unified in its approach to issues.

 

Nomination Process

 

Bill Burkert and Joe Hornacek will get together to review what the bylaws say concerning nomination and election of a new Convening Board and will report their findings at the next meeting.

 

Review of Constitution

 

Brian Mason suggested separating the offices of secretary and treasurer as a result of being overwhelmed with many responsibilities at the September 30th meeting.  It was suggested that perhaps rather than going that direction, we should add a membership coordinator to the Convening Board.

 

We will change the bylaws regarding membership and dues so that they will run concurrent with the fiscal year (July 1 – June 30) rather than the calendar year.

 

Reports from Focus Groups

 

Priests’ Rights

 

 

The next meetings of the Convening Board will take place on Friday, November 5th at 1:00 PM at St. Roman’s and Thursday, December 9th at 1:30 PM at St. Matthias. 

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Brian Mason

Secretary/Treasurer