[SALIGAONET] Offtopic :: Round Table on Church Properties, a statement (Document)

[Frederick [FN] Noronha * फ्रेडरिक नोरोन्या *فريدريك نورونيا]

DOCUMENT: Round Table and Church Properties, a statement

[This document was submitted to the Archbishop of Goa and
Daman, following the Eduardo Faleiro initiative on church
properties in Goa, and a subsequent Round Table meet.]

October 3, 2009

Most Rev. Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao
Archbishop's House,
Panaji-Goa.

Your Grace,

A Round Table Conference on the question of transparency and
accountability in the management of Church properties was
held in Panaji last August. Senior members of the clergy and
of the laity participated. The CBCI Evaluation Report of 1995
and other documents of the CBCI [Catholic Bishops' Conference
of India] were referred to.

         In some specific cases mentioned by the
         participants, flaws in the administration of
         ecclesiastical assets were noticed. Such lacunae
         should not detract from the exemplary work that the
         Church has done, and continues to do, in several
         fields. Hence, the following suggestions:

* Administration of ecclesiastical assets at every level --
 diocese, parish, chapels, schools -- should be transparent
 so that true and full information is provided to everyone
 who has a right to know and wants to know. A transparent
 administration creates trust, whereas an opaque one, even
 when in itself honest, raises doubts.

* Laws, ecclesiastical and civil, should be observed in
 letter and spirit, and no effort may be made to hoodwink
 them. The Church, which teaches obedience to civil laws,
 should set an example in obeying them.

* The Church may not be a democracy, as understood today, but
 is a communion. Therefore, it should try to carry the
 entire community and function on the basis of consensus
 and, when this is not available, by majority.

* Administrative committees should comprise at least some
 professionals, if not elected, at least co-opted.
 Committees should function professionally and not in an
 amateurish way, which would be detrimental to the
 administration. Committees should function democratically,
 so that the parish priest is only the first among equals.
 There should not be any funds or moneys held and operated
 by the parish priest at his will.

* Administrative committees, duly constituted, may be truly
 empowered, so that lay persons feel really responsible for
 the administration, as the Church are Christ's faithful and
 the assets of the Church are their assets. administration
 of the ecclesiastical assets should be their domain mainly.
 If this happens, priests will be left free for what is
 their proper field, viz. apostolate.

* Persons with conflict of interest should not be party of
 administrative bodies for in such a case administration
 becomes suspect.

* Monies, funds, assets donated, meant, earmarked for one
 purpose should not be diverted to other purposes, unless
 the purpose for which they are meant become redundant and
 proper procedure is followed, including, wherever possible,
 consent of the donors.

* Budgets should be widely circulated before being finalized.
 At the end of each year, the balance sheet may be open for
 inspection. People may be taken into confidence regarding
 donations, monies received and spent.

* All projects should be scrutinized in every respect before
 being approved. Funds generated for the purpose should be
 disclosed to the people before, during and after the
 completion of the project, so that people feel it is their
 project.

* Necessary permission from the authorities, e.g. from the
 Holy See, for alienation of precious objects, should always
 be obtained and action taken reports filed thereafter.

* There should be a Code of Conduct for administrators, and
 all concerned should abide by it.

* There ought to be checking and auditing at every level,
 with internal controls, so that corrective measures are
 taken in time. Auditors should be experts on the subject.

* Detailed inventory of monies, bank deposits, documents of
 property, debts, contracts, etc should be maintained and
 updated, so that the Church does not suffer loss due to
 negligence of its administrators.

* At the level of the Diocese, there should be a tribunal
 empowered to investigate complaints of mal-administrator,
 and take punitive action. Mechanism for accountability of
 the parish priests and other administrators should be
 reviewed and strengthened.

* If guilty administrators are recalcitrant and do not submit
 themselves to the discipline of the Church, Church
 authorities should have recourse to the State Courts to
 bring the culprits to justice.

It may be that some of the above suggestions are followed at
present, but there should be a determined effort to observe
them "in toto". Thus the Church itself will apply corrective
measures and strengthen its internal structures, without
attracting the need of external intervention.

It appears that, at least in Goa, the main problem lies at
the Parish level. There is often lack of accountability of
the Parish pr

[SALIGAONET] Re: SaligaoCivic.ConsumerCell AT Gmail.Com

[Frederick Noronha]

Mario, Thanks for sharing the updates. If possible, please announced
SCCC meetings via SaligaoNet. I'll make it a point to be there, even
if it means getting up "early".

If more of us were aware of the issues, we could all start shouting.
(I learnt of the situation at the Post Office, while speaking to
staff, after Dhabolkar's recent retirement news in the papers.) Most
SCCC members might not be much into postings via the Net, and so we
depend on you at least for the announcements/reminders of forthcoming
meetings (if not mistaken, it is the second Sunday of the month, 11 am
to 1 pm?). FN
-- 
Frederick Noronha :: +91-832-2409490
Writing, editing, alt.publishing, photography, journalism
Goa,1556: http://goa1556.goa-india.org

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[SALIGAONET] Re: SaligaoCivic.ConsumerCell AT Gmail.Com

[muriel & mario]

Dear Saligaonettekars,

On Monday 12 Oct 2009, Frederick Noronha wrote:

> Thanks Mario & Muriel.
>
> Would appreciate a lot if something could be done collectively
> for:
>
> * Better bus connectivity between Saligao and Panjim
> * Launching of a library in Saligao.
> * Improving post-office staff and timings in the village.

There is so, so much to be done and so few hands to do it.  Due 
to our construction work in Pilerne and other pressing domestic 
affairs, Mario attened the last monthly meeting after many 
months.  What did he find?  

He was the 12th 'bokdo' of the same, usual 'bokde' that 
faithfully attend the meetings.  Of these, only 7 are free enough 
to actually execute a decision.  From these 7, only 2 or 3 have 
the time and resources to actually lead from the front.  Result?

Here is an example from the last meeting...

Problem discussed: 
Saligao's telephone system is suffering from a 
breakdown...physical, mental, nervous - total!

Action planned:
The President, Gerard Delaney will make a phone call - in reality 
at least 10 phone calls, spread over 3 mornings! - to get an 
appointment with the Divisional Engineer (DE) of Goa Telecom to 
discuss the breakdown.

Gerard Delaney will then draft, print (on his own printer) and 
sign the letter that the SCCC delegation will present to the DE.  
This he will do in his spare time after a full day's/week's work 
as principal of a Higher Secondary School, in far away Bicholim.

Gerard Delaney will then phone the 3 members who have volunteered 
to be on the delegation.

Gerard Delaney will then lead the delegation on the appointed 
date.  At the meeting, the DE will be requested to attend a 'Meet 
the Saligao telephone subscribers' public interaction.

Gerard Delany will then draft the poster announcing the public 
meeting, print, photocopy and distribute it to the members to  
display it at various points in the village.

Gerard Delaney will then welcome the DE, introduce him, look 
after his refreshments and then escort him to his vehicle after 
the public meeting.

Get the drift?

Of course Gerard will organise one or two others to get the 
refreshments, make the Vote of Thanks etc.  But the dead horse 
that is being flogged here is that there is just too much work 
falling on the backs of too few 'bokde!'

We need more consumers to be part of the solution instead of 
being part of the problem, just by their silence and inaction.

> Many thanks for all that has been done by the forum, specially
> w.r.t to electricity, phones, water and gas over the years.

Thanks for nothing!  The SCCC is just a bunch of ordinary folk 
who are only doing a tiny part of their duty by being aware and 
active consumers.  It is only incidental that other consumers are 
benefitting!

> PS: I am a member, and would encourage others to join too.

We need you and others to actively meet and pursue individual 
villagers who are looking out to do something for Saligao.

> Would like to attend more often, but my late hours of work
> (and occasional travel out of Goa) make that difficult. 

We understand, but whenever possible, please come, report, 
interview, photograph, video and chronicle what the consumer 
movement is doing in the village.  Individuals within the SCCC or 
the Cell as a unit are not important.  The spirit of the consumer 
movement - being aware, vigilant and above all active - is what 
we need documented and mass communicated by the media.

> Please
> do announcement meetings via Saligao-Net if possible, and also
> share the cell's updates via this network. There's a lot being
> done, which we would like to all hear of. Thanks! And to
> create a web-presence for SCCC the easiest is
> http://www.wordpress.com (if you send me the digitised text, I
> could surely help gratis).

We have been out of circulation for a while on all fronts, but 
hope to get back slowly.  So asking members like Gerard Delaney, 
Olinda Sequeira, Americo Remedios, Lawrence Nazareth, Joaquim 
D'Mello, Trevor Delaney, Joaquim Vaz, Victor D'Souza to send you 
updates will yield more immediate results.

We will also ask them to keep in touch with you.

Warm regards and solidarity.

Mario.

-- 

there *is* anOTHERgoa 
at  
& 
'''
muriel & mario,
"villa faria", 
5/3 donvaddo, saligao.  
bardez.  goa.  403511.
tel: 0832-2278276 / 240
   
''



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[SALIGAONET] GOACAN launches Right To Information Awareness Fortnight.

[goadesc]

Do GOACAN a favour, circulate this email to your
family members, relatives, neighbours and friends.
Help other CONSUMERS to be better informed.


GOACAN launches Right To Information Awareness Fortnight 

GOACAN held an awareness action today at Margao on the 
occasion of the fourth anniversary of the enactment of the Right 
To Information Act 2005 with a call to citizens to strengthen the 
movement for transparency and accountability in governance. 
Volunteers from various Consumer Forums armed with coloured 
flags & placards distributed information slips on RTI, answered 
queries from the general public and also made available the RTI 
Act in English.

The action held at the Margao Municipal Garden was part of the 
Right To Information Awareness Fortnight being observed by 
GOACAN from 12th to 25th October to address the need for 
awareness on RTI as well as to petition the Goa Govt. to fulfill 
its duties with respect to the Act.

During the fortnight, GOACAN will highlight the demand that the 
Goa Govt. print and sell copies of the Act in Konkani and Marathi 
for an affordable price and increases training sessions for its officials 
in the administration of the RTI Act especially the Village Panchayat 
Secretaries and Head Clerks of various Departments & Corporations.

The Govt. publicizes the salient features of the Act through Adverts. 
on Hoardings &  Cable TV and wall painting at Bus Stands, Primary 
Health Centres, Police Stations, offices of  Mamlatdars, Deputy 
Collectors, District Collectors and all Village Panchayats & 
Municipal Councils.

The Govt. must enforce the compulsory display of boards with the 
details of PIO's & FAA’s in all the Departments, Corporations, 
Agencies & Institutions receiving substantial funds from the Govt.

During the fortnight GOACAN will also network with the village 
based Consumer Forums to promote awareness in the local area 
on the Obligations of Public Authorities and requests for obtaining 
information as per Section 4 & 6 of the Act.

Consumer Forum activists will organise "phone in's" with the 
various Heads of Departments and Central Govt. offices operating 
in Goa to verify whether the RTI procedures are being  followed. 
The Forum volunteers will also publicise the user friendly method 
of  affixing a Court Fee stamp of Rs.10/- on the RTI application 
at the time of submission.

In order to draw public and media attention to the use of RTI Act 
during the fortnight, surprise visits & checks, submitting of RTI 
applications and inspection of files will be undertaken. Consumer 
activists will also publicize the address, telephone & fax numbers 
and email id of the Goa State Information Commission (GSIC) 
and the importance of the First Appellate Authority (FAA).

Consumers are requested to send copies of their RTI applications 
/suggestions by post to GOACAN, Post Box 187, Margao Goa 
403 601 or by email to goa...@bsnl.in during this fortnight.

GOA CIVIC AND CONSUMER ACTION NETWORK
---
promoting civic and consumer rights in Goa
---
GOACAN Post Box 187 Margao, Goa 403 601
GOACAN Post Box 78 Mapusa, Goa 403 507
mail: goa...@bsnl.in
--


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