Below is the principle communication between Bishop Boyea, the St. Rene Council and the Cardinal. We've included the dates to help you follow the sequence of events.
Date: 3/24/2005 To: The parishioners of St. Rene Goupil, From: St. Rene Council Fr. Koehler contacted me late
last week to schedule a meeting with the Pastoral Council and Commission
representatives for Thursday April 21, 2005 from 7-9 PM at the church.
Also scheduled to attend is a representative from the AoD Parish Life
office. Fr. Koehler indicated that we would be discussing parish
finances, specifically the results of the AoD audit, as well as,
parishioner concerns. I immediately contacted our
Vicar, Reverend Cooney and asked him to attend the meeting and to
facilitate Bishop Boyea’s attendance. Reverend Cooney informed me today
that he had spoken with Bishop Boyea yesterday, Tuesday March 22, 2005,
and that the Bishop indicated he would be out of town on the 21st of
April and unable to attend the meeting. Reverend Cooney asked Bishop
Boyea if he (Rev. Cooney) could attend the meeting, the Bishop
instructed him to not attend. Reverend Cooney then advised me that he
has done all he can do within the workings of the AoD at this time. We
appreciate Reverend Cooney’s support in this matter, I encourage you to
take the time to contact him and thank him for his help. Vicar: Rev.
Michael Cooney St. Peter Catholic Church 98 New Street Mount Clemens, MI 48043 Tel: (586) 468-4578 FAX: (586) 468-3199 Finally, in lieu of these
developments, I have called a meeting of the Pastoral Council and
Commission representatives for Thursday March 31, 2005 to prepare for
the April 21st meeting. Please know that the April 21st meeting is
currently limited to only Fr. Koehler, the AoD Parish Life
Representative, and the Pastoral Council and Commission representatives
per Fr. Koehler's request. The following messages and
the attached file represent my correspondence with Bishop Boyea since
March 10, 2005. Sincerely, Chairperson,
St. Rene Parish Pastoral Council ----- Original Message ----- From: "Save St Rene" To: "Bishop Earl
Boyea" Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2005
10:34:01 -0500 Subject:
St. Rene Goupil Bishop
Boyea, Thank you for
acknowledging receipt of my letter. I was very disappointed to learn
that you are unable to take even a few minutes from your busy
schedule to read my brief three page letter, especially given the time
that has elapsed since you received it (March 10, 2005). A number of the
parish council members here at St. Rene have been working extensively
to thoroughly investigate the complaints against Fr. Koehler and to
respond to the concerns of parishioners promptly, all while continuing
to attend to our families and jobs. It is therefore seemingly
implausible to us that you, our regional Bishop, cannot find the time to
address the concerns of St. Rene parishioners with the same urgency as
we do, or apparently, to even
consider them worthy of your intervention. The issues that have been
reported to you are matters of fact, some of the allegations are
violations of Archdiocese policy, others are violations of common decency, and yet you are too
"busy" to address them. I am personally confounded and astonished by
your inattentiveness to this matter and suspect that the concerned
parishioners of St. Rene will feel the same. The St. Rene
Parish Council has taken the responsibility of responding to the
telephone calls, emails, letters, and personal petitions from
parishioners expressing their concerns very seriously. We have done our
best to remain objective and fair in both receiving and reporting those
same concerns to you and the Cardinal by way of our Vicar, Reverend
Cooney. We have unquestionably and unselfishly given the situation at
St. Rene the priority it is due and feel you, as our regional Bishop,
have the same responsibility. Clearly then, it is both fair and
reasonable for us to expect that you make time in your schedule in the
very near future to acknowledge the concerns of our parishioners and
provide them with the answers to their questions that only you can. To-date, the
Parish Council has been effective in requesting patience and maintaining
the peace while following the prescribed channels for reporting the
concerns of our fellow parishioners. I highly doubt that once the
parishioners become aware of the low priority with which you are
treating their concerns that they will give any further heed to requests
from the council for continued patience. Frankly, your reply will most
likely only fuel the frustration, disappointment, and outright anger of
our faith community and incite action that could have been prevented
with your prompt intercession. Instead, I believe your lack of timely
and responsible action will be interpreted as blatant and defiant
indifference to the plight of our parish and will certainly cause the
situation to degenerate even further. The Cardinal will most likely not
appreciate additional controversy being linked to the Archdiocese due to your
inaction. Therefore, it is
with great concern and all due respect, that I must insist that you,
Reverend Cooney, and Fr. Koehler host a Townhall meeting at St. Rene to
allow the parishioners an opportunity to be heard and have their
questions answered by you and Fr. Koehler as soon as possible. The
consequences of not doing so may be greater than either of us could
possibly fathom. Sincerely, Chairperson St. Rene Goupil
Parish Pastoral Council -----
Original Message ----- From: Boyea,
Bishop Earl To: 'Save St. Rene' Sent: Saturday, March 19, 2005 5:48 PM Subject: RE: St. Rene Goupil Dennis, I
apologize that it has taken so long to get back to you, but with the
school closings and Holy Week it has been swamped. Unfortunately, it
looks like I will not be able to give your letter the full attention it
deserves over the next weeks, so just let me at least acknowledge
receipt of it. I would also encourage you, especially as a leader in the
parish, to help the parish to cooperate with Fr. Koehler by modeling
that yourself, as best you can. It is very clear to me that the Cardinal
wants Fr. Koehler there and to remain as your pastor serving that
community of St. Rene. So I ask you to work with God's grace to draw
good out of this situation. Especially during this upcoming Holy Week I
certainly wish you and your parish the blessings of Christ's redemptive
suffering and death and that those graces may be transformative in all
of you unto his resurrection. -----Original
Message----- Sent:
3/10/05 2:12 PM Bishop
Boyea,
March 10, 2005
Bishop Earl Boyea Archdiocese of Detroit 1234 Washington Boulevard Detroit, Michigan 48226-1875
Dear Bishop Boyea,
I am writing you in response to a message you had sent to a concerned parishioner of St. Rene Goupil. Your response, regarding the dismissal of <SRG Parishioner A & B> from the St. Rene Parish staff by Fr. Koehler, was shared with me due to my role as Chairperson of the St. Rene Parish Pastoral Council, was as follows;
-----Original Message-----
Dear Mr. G., thank you for writing to me. I really hope that you have spoken with your new pastor who is a very fine man and priest. There is always another side to a story and it would be good not to make up your mind by just listening to one side. I know for a fact that <SRG Parishioner A> was trying even before Fr. Koehler arrived to make life difficult for him, sending e-mails to a lot of people and setting himself up against the new pastor--I don't know how someone like that can stay long in a parish when a new priest arrives. So you see, it is necessary to give Fr. a chance; none of us want to be judged ahead of time without being able to give our side. Hope that helps. Please pray for me.
I and my fellow council peers were astonished, after having investigated this matter thoroughly in recent days and weeks, to learn of both your assertion that <SRG Parishioner A> had campaigned in earnest against Fr. Koehler and your revelation that you had first hand knowledge of this activity.
As the chairperson of the St. Rene Parish Pastoral Council I feel I am obligated to request, with all due respect, that you to make any and all such information and corroborating evidence immediately available to the St. Rene Parish Pastoral Council for our prompt consideration and action as part of our investigation into this matter. I feel I am also further obligated to respectfully inquire as to what action you had taken in response to these facts since you most certainly had every right and responsibility to do so as our regional Bishop. The St. Rene Parish Pastoral Council is appreciative of whatever information you can provide us in support of our investigation.
Please allow me now, the opportunity to share with you information discovered in the course of the councils own investigation into this matter.
Initially, our investigation revealed that <SRG Parishioner A> did in fact bring to the attention of naturally inquisitive parishioners and staff members information, both positive and negative, about Fr. Koehlers reputation that had been related to him by parishioners from St. Vincent. However, no one we have spoken with to-date, and I personally have spoken to a great many angered and outranged parishioners in recent days and weeks, was aware of any egregious or subversive effort by <SRG Parishioner A> or any member of our parish "against the new pastor".
Additionally, it is also clear from the councils investigation that <SRG Parishioner A> was certainly not the only source of information about Fr. Koehler's reputation, there were others, all with similar stories. While the bulk of the information related by these persons was at the time truly unsettling to us all; I and other laity leaders, petitioned everyone to set aside any preconceptions about Fr. Koehler and instead extend him a warm St. Rene welcome. Now, regrettably, many of us find ourselves looking and feeling foolish since many of the allegations about Fr. Koehlers reputation have proven to be apocalyptically true in just the first 21 days of his administration.
At this stage of the councils continuing investigation, and Im sure you will agree, it seems apparent that little, if anything, could have been done on anyones part o avert the animosity and controversy that has overwhelmed our faith community since Fr. Koehler's arrival.
In addition, you are no doubt aware of the fact that the St. Rene Parish Pastoral Council was compelled to request the intervention of our Vicar, Reverend Cooney to resolve the enduring turmoil. Thankfully, Reverend Cooney agreed to investigate the matter thoroughly and has already submitted his findings to the Cardinal for his consideration and action. We are all praying for Gods blessings upon the Cardinal as he considers this weighty matter.
Conceivably then, it is possible that you may have either been misinformed about the goings-on at St. Rene either through unintentional miscommunication or that you may have in fact been purposefully misinformed by persons of questionable integrity, or even more likely, some combination of the two scenarios. Regardless, the parishioners of St. Rene invite you to visit with our faith community soon to learn first hand of our concerns in this controversy.
While I'm certain none of us at St. Rene know Fr. Koehler will enough to attest to his overall character, there are an ever growing number of concerned parishioners who have formed a strong opinion about his personality from both observing him and speaking with him. They believe that there is another side to the "fine man and priest" you spoke of, an alter-ego if you will. They further believe that his alter-ego is largely unknown to his superiors and, should his superiors come to know this alternate side of his personality, it would shock and disappoint them as it has many of the devoted parishioners of St. Rene.
Many of our devoted parishioners now fear, rightly or wrongly, that in the not too distant future Fr. Koehler's alter-ego will most certainly bring very public humiliation upon the reputation of our entire catholic community, already long suffering from previous indignations. And of equal consequence, reflect poorly on his superiors should it become known that he was allowed to continue unabated despite their having been forewarned. These same devoted parishioners have come to believe that Fr. Koehler is in need of more than just their prayers at this time and they expect, reasonably so, his superiors would intervene on behalf of all concerned.
Therefore, it is with respect and great concern for all parties that I am compelled to encourage you, as you yourself have counseled, to fully know both sides of the story. And to also fully know the man at the center of this controversy so that you may assume your rightful place in shepherding the return of peace to our parish expeditiously.
Respectfully,
Chairperson, St. Rene Goupil Parish Pastoral Council
cc:Cardinal, Adam Maida, Archdiocese of Detroit Vicar, Michael N. Cooney, Central Macomb Vicariate Fr. Koehler |
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