Most Reverend, Vincent Long, Bishop of Parramatta,
At the outset of this letter, we would like to assure Your Grace that we are well aware of a bishop’s governing powers to transfer a priest under Title VIII Power of Governance of the Code of Canon law.
I would like to assure you that, I, Bernadette Ching, during prayer, was inspired to start this petition. No one pushed me to do this.
The initial aim of the petition was to express the sentiments of the laity when it was brought to our attention that Fr Robert Bossini (Fr Bob) was being removed as Dean and Parish Priest of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Parramatta. The petition stemmed from Fr Bob being beloved by the parishioners and from his brilliant stewardship. He has been our rock of faith before and during this pandemic.
The petition is in two parts:
1. To ask your Grace to reconsider removing Fr Bob as our Dean and Parish Priest
2. A request for transparency.
St Patrick’s Cathedral Parish is a place where parishioners from various churches throughout the diocese come for Mass, Confession, Adoration, Formation and many other activities.
Under Fr Bob’s stewardship, we have had the privilege of being led by a priest who consistently promotes, and remains faithful, to the magisterial teachings of the Catholic Church. As a consequence, he has strengthened the devotion and faith of the parishioners both within the parish and throughout the diocese. Fr Bob consistently represented the Church and the Parramatta Diocese well. We wanted to keep Fr Bob as our priest and good shepherd.
When the diocese chose to remain silent to over 1,000 signatures gathered in three days, many began to speculate as to why Fr Bob was being removed and urgently transferred to Katoomba. The speculations were baseless and harsh, (edited) included gossips of other crimes. Poor Fr Bob was forced to issue a statement in the Parish Bulletin to clear his name. We then held a Parish meeting, which Your Grace chose not to attend despite being invited.
What we now know is:
1. The Process of the Audit was not followed and deliberate attempts have been made to exclude the parish from this process. In particular
A. There is an internal report that no one, not even the Finance Group, has seen, despite several requests.
B. This report was given to third parties without input from the Cathedral Finance Committee.
C. Instead, an unsigned interim report was given by the Diocese as at 18 June (Parish meeting) and thus was the only source presented to us laity.
D. KPMG audit commissioned by the Diocese needs to be discussed with the parish.
2. That our Cathedral Parish was put under administration by your Grace without discussing with the parish team issues raised by you in the audits especially, to clarify:
A. The aim of inserting a bankruptcy clause in the audit report due to the deficit our Parish Cathedral inherited from previous administration in 2013/2014.
B. Why the Cathedral Overdraft has increased in 6 years and to acknowledge the reasons for this increase.
These are only a few of the question we have.
On Sunday, 5 July 2020 Fr Bob was farewelled by many supporters from all over the Diocese. And our demand for transparency, accountability and synodality will continue.
We are writing to seek the following:
1. Access to the Cathedral financial reports including the internal and external audit reports from 2012 to 2019;
2. The KPMG report which cost over $25,000;
3. A public dialogue with your Grace and the laity.
4. To allow an audit and investigation allowing us to appoint 2 of our representatives.
5. Copy of the 27 May 2020 of Your Grace's correspondence to Fr Bob.
Your Grace regularly encourages the laity to speak up and be heard. And the Archbishop of Sydney recently encouraged the laity to ask for transparency, accountability and synodality. A survey has just been sent out to the faithful to this effect.
We hope our request could be actioned immediately. We also hope the Curia and the Bishops’ Conference of Australia could look into the allegations and Fr Bob’s sad plight.
Pace in Christi!
Bernadette Ching on behalf of all signatories
Encl:
Petition Letter with the 1,694 signatures as at 6 July 2020 at 11:58 pm Letter of Fr Robert Bossini
CC:
His Excellency Most Reverend Adolfo Tito Yllana
Apostolic nunciature of the Holy See (Australia) Tracking number 63503638482068
Peter Williams
Vicar General of Parramatta Diocese Tracking number 63503638484062
Very Rev Christopher de Souza VG EV PP
Vicar General Tracking number RPP446390005100134231342360607
Sr Ailsa Mackinnon RSM
Chancellor – Ministries Tacking number 6350338487063
Rev Mgr. Ronald McFarlane PP
Chancellor - Administration Tracking number 635036388486066
General Secretary Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Tracking number 63503638485069