Here is a letter to the editor that was printed in yesterday's CT Post. Incredible amount of detail for someone who was not a parishioner. And did not attend.
Officials must look deeper into church’s closing
The announcement that Holy Trinity Hungarian Byzantine Catholic Church in Bridgeport was abruptly closed, and the manner in which it was closed, amazed me.
Holy Trinity has a proud history spanning 109 years, and deserved better treatment than it received from the Eparchy of Passaic and the Holy See. As a Catholic I am ashamed.
The Bishops in their positions are morally bound (as are all priests) to act in the best interests of their congregants and protect them. They are “shepherds” of their “flock”. This is why a bishop has his bishop’s crook, or staff, just like a traditional shepherd has a crook to gather and protect his sheep.
The Catholic Church, through the actions of some of its hierarchy, has a reputation of acting with arrogance. The plight of Holy Trinity was petitioned first to its pastor, Fr. George Malitz, who is also the pastor of St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church; second to its bishop, Andrew Pataki, and even as high up as the Vatican as per the parishioners of Holy Trinity, all with no help (some shepherd and protector).
Malitz, while eager to inform the parishioners of Holy Trinity that the money the parish had saved was gone, refused to explain where the money had been spent. He refused to allow open access to the books and finances of the parish, and told the parishioners that the parish’s operating expenses were more than the parish was making.
He refused to rent out the vacant rectory despite the parishioners’ request as a way to make extra income. Malitz stopped the weekly bingo games at the Holy Trinity Hall (a large and very popular fundraiser and source of income for the parish), and refused to rent the same hall to outside groups (the last I knew, the upper part of the hall, which has a fully appointed restaurant-class kitchen) was rented for $800 per event – another parish income source.
Parishioners in the past had bequeathed in their wills both money and even multi-family homes they had worked hard for all their lives because of the love they had for their parish and spiritual home, so that their church would be there for their children and grandchildren through the added income.
All these actions of refusal to find ways to raise the income of the parish and lower the expenses of the parish are very bad financial practices, and are very suspicious.
On Sunday, Oct. 30, 2005, at the end of the Divine Liturgy, Malitz unceremoniously announced that per Bishop Pataki, Holy Trinity was to be closed immediately. The parishioners were rightfully floored and angry.
I applaud Matthew Boucher, who, upon hearing the announcement, went and reclaimed his and other parishioners’ collection envelopes. The very act of having a parish collection knowing full well that the pastor was going to announce the immediate closure of the church to those who made its existence possible is not only an arrogant act, but it is also a very greedy act. Both actions are deplorable actions for a priest.
Then, to add lemon juice to the parishioners’ wounds, Malitz advised them they could come to his other parish, St. John the Baptist in Trumbull.
Then, to add salt to the lemon juice, Malitz had the parishioners forced out of their church by two armed guards who emerged from, of all places, the two sacristies on either side of the sanctuary.
This was an act of cowardice on behalf of Malitz and the eparchy. These acts of betrayal by the Catholic Church through its agent are morally wrong.
In 1929, the Byzantine Catholic Church cried foul when Pope Pius VI and the Roman rite hierarchy broke the tradition of the Byzantine rite and asserted there would no longer be a married clergy in the American Byzantine Catholic Church. They were bullied by the majority rite, and despite their pleas to Rome, their pleas fell on deaf ears. The same parish Malitz is pastor of, St. John the Baptist, was at the center of this controversy 76 years ago. The parish was split in half and the half that accepted this directive of Rome remained under allegiance with the pope. The other half that wanted to keep its tradition of a married clergy allied itself under the newly organized American Orthodox Christian Church.
The result is St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church in Trumbull, and the Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist across from Bridgeport Hospital on Mill Hill Avenue in Bridgeport. The Catholic Church sued the split-off part of the parish so that it could keep all the property in its hands. When the split-off church bought the property they now occupy through individual loans, as the new parish was unable to secure one loan due to their being newly organized, St. John’s and the Catholic Church lost that greedy battle, and the result is the beautiful edifice on Mill Hill Avenue.
Just as the Byzantine rite was bullied as a minority by the Roman minority, Holy Trinity, being of an ethnic minority – Hungarians – in a rite that has an ethnic majority of Slavs, has been bullied into closure. Some of the parishioners have said they would prefer to worship in Orthodox parishes rather than go to St. John’s in Trumbull. I applaud them for making such a choice. They are exercising their religious freedom. I would suggest that the families that comprise Holy Trinity organize themselves and align themselves to join the American Orthodox Church and that the Orthodox Church, buy back the former church properties. This would solve the eparchy’s desire for money, and would also allow the church that was closed to reopen and run its own affairs.
I would also suggest that the parishioners, in light of the possible mismanagement of their parish finances, retain an attorney to protect their interests as parishioners and the assets of the parish. I would also suggest that the heirs of those who gave real estate to Holy Trinity also retain counsel to get back the property if it hasn’t already been sold. As the parish no longer exists, the bequests should be voided, as they were intended for the financial benefit of Holy Trinity only, not for the financial benefit of St. John the Baptist, or of the Eparchy of Passaic, unless specifically given to either one.
I also urge those reading this that if you choose to leave a bequest to your parish, regardless of your denomination, you put a clause in stipulating that if the parish closes for whatever reason, the bequest reverts back to your legal heirs. I also urge the attorney generals of the states the eparchy has parishes in to investigate the books and finances of all of its parishes and the eparchy to make sure the finances are balanced.
In closing, I am sad to report that Malitz, who appears to have severely mismanaged Holy Trinity’s finances, and who refuses open access to the parish books, is on the eparchy’s Retirement Plan Board and is business manager for the eparchy’s newspaper as per the eparchy’s official Website. If he has indeed mismanaged Holy Trinity’s funds, for whatever reason, how well is he managing the retirement fund and the eparchy newspaper?
These actions, coupled with the many reports of sexual abuse and abuse cover-ups over many decades by priests, bishops and even cardinals, severely shake confidence in the church.
When will it be fully realized by all, and not just a few, that the clergy, regardless of position in the church, and regardless of denomination, exist for the people of the church? The people do not exist to provide sometimes lavish lifestyles for the clergy and hierarchy.
Roger W. Weldon
Bridgeport