Missing the Mark on Catholic Giving

To the Editor:

As usual, your publication missed the mark when it comes to covering Catholic philanthropy. Domenica Marchetti’s front-page look at Thomas S. Monaghan (“Delivering on His Word,” October 7) slipped into the usual media trap of grandstanding on Church positions on abortion and women’s issues instead of marveling at the wonderful generosity of someone enormously wealthy.

This man is a rare commodity as we face the new millennium — i.e., a Catholic millionaire who actually embraces philanthropy within his own faith tradition. I don’t know Mr. Monaghan, but I have stood in the center of the Cathedral Church he helped create in Managua, and I personally witnessed this building’s incredible positive impact on the faithful of that troubled region of Central America. Unfortunately, Ms. Marchetti decided to give this achievement a cursory paragraph while doting on what the people of the abortion industry feel about where the “Catholic pizza man” chooses to donate his money.

Ms. Marchetti’s assumption that Mr. Monaghan’s orthodox views rattle cages within the ivy-covered walls of Catholic institutions in the Northeast might be accurate, but any Catholic development officer will confess that the “big money” in the Roman Catholic giving game resides in the families of conservative Catholics. The progressive among the faithful may get all the press, but they unfortunately are not the ones who get the Church’s bills paid. That means we who ask for donations must walk a fine line not only among our donors, but among the ordained as well.

There is a story here if your writers are willing to enter the Catholic cinema of charitable giving with a new pledge of fairness: That is, they must be willing to leave their “reproductive rights 3-D glasses” in the lobby, and see the modern Catholic philanthropic movie for what it really is — millions of the faithful either avoiding or attempting to accept today’s stewardship challenge. Mr. Monaghan has accepted this challenge wholeheartedly and should have been held up by your publication for the wonderful example that he has been, and continues to be.

John Mark Willcox
Director of Development and Planned Giving
Diocese of Shreveport
Shreveport, La.