A Letter to the Archdiocese from a St. Joe's Parent

I am a parent at Saint Joseph School in Maplewood, and a parishioner at Saint Joseph. Yesterday, we received the devastating news that this wonderful school, which has been teaching children for 80 years, will close its doors forever.

I am, of course, very upset over the prospect of this school shutting its doors. It is hard to put into words what a special environment St. Joe's has provided to my son and to all the children there. The children are not only learning what they would learn in any school (and learning it well), but also being taught the faith and how to treat each other and everyone with kindness and respect. I have never met such a nice group of kids, or such a dedicated caring staff. Everyone from [school principal] Ms. Susan Jurevich and Ms. Mary in the office, to all the teachers, to Lorenzo the custodian, care deeply about the school and the families that it serves. Now they are being tossed out after they have dedicated their lives to the Church and to Catholic education.

I am just as upset by what has clearly been a case of misplaced priorities in the Archdiocese of Newark. This past fall, the Catholic Church spent a tremendous amount of energy (and certainly money) lobbying against same-sex marriage in New Jersey. The NJ Catholic Conference spent $45,000 on state lobbying in 2009, and that's just what is on record. It does not take into account the tremendous amount of energy and time that could have been better spent.

The National Catholic Reporter said this:

Key to the defeat of the measure, opponents and supporters agreed, was the lobbying effort mounted by the Catholic church.

"[The bishops] were critical," said Sen. Raymond J. Lesniak, D-Union, a Catholic and a lead sponsor of the bill. "They defeated it," he added. "The bishops lobbied lawmakers directly, getting people to make phone calls, send e-mails, arrange meetings with legislators. It was the most intensive lobbying by the Catholic church that I have ever seen."

"[T]he most intensive lobbying by the Catholic church that I have ever seen"— I wish we could say that about the bishop's efforts to save St. Joe's. They were lobbying lawmakers, organizing phone calls and emails, and arranging meeting with legislators to defeat a bill. Imagine if they had put that effort into fund-raising and building enrollment for St. Joe's. Imagine what might have been accomplished. Instead, they chose to defeat a bill that had nothing to do with them.

I know that the Newark Archdiocese spent $10,000 to defeat same-sex marriage in Maine. How much more was spent in New Jersey by the Archdiocese to defeat same-sex marriage? And how much was spent by the Archdiocese of Newark lobbying against Obama's health care bill? (Estimates are that the U.S. Catholic Church spent millions, but solid numbers are not available because churches are exempt from the Lobby Disclosure Act of 1995, which provides a more transparent view of other organizations.)

This has little to do with whether Catholics agree with your views (many surveys show they do not), and much more to do with priorities. How could the Archdiocese spend even a single dime on lobbying, knowing that these kids (and the ones that were to come after them) were at risk for losing a Catholic education? Why was the money spent on lobbying, and not on Catholic schools? How much has been wasted on lobbying for all kinds of purposes, both at the federal and the state levels, through the Church's various lobbying arms such as the New Jersey Catholic Conference and the US Catholic Conference? And, just as importantly, why were Catholic parishes mobilized to defeat marriage equality in New Jersey, but not mobilized to save our schools? This is a tragic misuse of money, time, and energy.

I am heartbroken that the Archdiocese considers lobbying to be a more important use of effort and funds than these wonderful children, this dedicated staff, and this school that has served the community since 1930.

Laura Farrell is a Maplewood resident and a writer. She has a son at Saint Joseph School and a daughter at Tuscan School. She writes a regular column, the Newark Progressive Examiner, on New Jersey politics.