Keywords by David Yonke

The Toledo Catholic Diocese is eliminating 40 full-time jobs and cutting two down to part-time status, saying income has held steady but expenses -- particularly health care and gasoline -- have soared.
This affects more than a quarter of the nonclerical workforce.
My article ran on the front page today; here's a link.
It's really a shame to see people who work for a church lose their jobs. But it also is a harsh look at the realities of running a church.
People often gripe that "all churches want is our money." With a few rare exceptions, that's not true. Churches and synagogues and mosques are much more interested in spiritual things than in financial matters.
But it costs money to run a church. People who are skeptical of "organized religion" don't mind paying $10 for a movie or $50 for a concert but when the minister or rabbi or imam asks them for a donation, they cry foul and claim that the clerics are greedy thieves.
Churches have to pay utility bills or they won't have electricity or heat. They have to pay staffers to work as secretaries and janitors and receptionists. They pay for lawncare and maintenance. And of course the salaries of the clerics.
As the Catholic Church continues to deal with the fallout from the clerical sexual abuse crisis, attendance is dropping and so are donations -- both nationwide and in the Toledo diocese. (The diocese's overall revenue has remained stable, including investment income and parish assessments.)
These are difficult times for Toledo in general, which is struggling through a recession, and for local religious leaders who have to squeeze every penny to keep their doors open and their staffs paid.
The Toledo diocese is feeling it more than most and I'm certain, through anecdotal evidence, that the abuse scandal has contributed to the attendance drop and, hence, the income.
It is going to take a long time to turn things around, for the diocese to re-polish its image and regain the people's trust. Of course there will always be the blindly devout, unquestioning followers who feel it's wrong to even raise a question about the church or the bishop. But there are many others who are asking themselves and their priests the hard questions, and a lot of them are staying home or shopping for a new church.
I feel bad for the laid-off diocesan workers; here's hoping they find new and fulfilling jobs in the near future.
* * *
You're never too old to learn. I've signed up for a course at the University of Toledo starting August 20, on Religion and Postmodern Culture. I'm really looking forward to it! I'm not sure where it will lead, or if it will lead anywhere except my own personal benefit.
On the other hand, I am thinking of going on to earn another degree. With the shaky state of The Blade, an advanced degree may come in handy someday ... like when the current hard-fought, bone-chilling labor contract expires in 2010. The next round of negotiations will probably be even worse.
* * *
Speaking of the precariousness of the news business and the severe pay cuts imposed on Blade employees in the current contract, I had to find ways to trim my household budget. Despite some in-house advertisements printed in the Blade during the long and bitter contract fight, newsroom employees are definitely not overpaid. There are many truck drivers and factory workers who make as much or more than us -- college-graduate journalists with decades of experience.
In decades past, Blade editors and reporters were paid more than most journalists, but that has changed dramatically with a zero percent raise in the previous 3 year contract plus higher costs for health care; and 1 percent or so the previous 3 year contract, and then a $100 a week cut in the new contract.
When many of my colleagues fled The Blade as contract talks soured and doom and gloom hung in the air, every single one of them -- and I mean dozens of people -- went to other newspapers for higher salaries than what they were getting here.
Meanwhile, those of us who have diligently hung in there and worked through the oppressive conditions (as in snipers on the rooftops, propaganda on bulletin boards, and working beside "replacement workers" who took the jobs of 200 long-term employees, many of whom were my friends) found ourselves being publicly whipped by the owners who published our salaries in the paper for all to see, snidely claiming we were overpaid. What about their salaries? No chance of seeing that in print.
Not suprisingly, the publication of our pay backfired in public opinion, just like The Blade's ad campaign comparing Toledo to Communist China (big photo of a Mao statue, with "China changed, can Toledo change too?" Whoever came up with that lame idea?)
Personally, as a Duke University graduate with 30 years in the business, I feel woefully underpaid. The only people who think that we are overpaid are (a) the corporate owners, who are multimillionaires and out of touch with reality and (b) the local blue collar workers who have no education and no alternatives.
Anyway, I don't want to get into a long diatribe here. There are some management people who know better, and most of them have been very good to me, personally. But as a non-management employee I get lumped in with all the others. It's nothing personal, but then again, it is if you know what I mean. They should treat their own people with a modicum of respect.
At one point, I wrote a long screed about this whole ugly mess, but I'm deleting it now, and just saying this: In order to save money as I provide for my family and try to weather the savage pay cuts that were forced on me, I dropped Buckeye CableSystem, which is owned by the same people who own The Blade, and switched to the Dish Network satellite system. I'm am absolutely thrilled with the move. I save $40 a month or more, I get every channel I want or need and then some, and feel so much better every month when I write a check to Dish instead of fattening the wallets of the people who cut my salary drastically but did not take even a 10 cent pay cut themselves.
By the way, this is not a sale pitch but if you are thinking of signing up for the Dish please put me down as a reference -- I get $50 for every referral!
Toledo, Ohio
August 1, 2007

Background on the letter, which you can read by clicking below:

The Toledo Catholic Diocese is trying hard to contain the damage done to its image by the latest scandal involving one of its young and charismatic priests,
Father David Nuss, who had an affair with a woman, reportedly after performing her husband's funeral. After Father Nuss reported this "inappropriate relationship" to Bishop Leonard Blair, the bishop went ahead and appointed Fr. Nuss to the position of pastor of St. Rose Parish, an 8,100-member church in the Toledo suburb of Perrysburg that had already been in the headlines because of the controversy involving the Rev. Thomas Leyland (brother of Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland). Fr. Leyland wanted to stay on at St. Rose but said the bishop was forcing him into retirement because the priest had publicly criticized the bishop.
So things were already heated up at the parish before the Fr. Nuss affair, no pun intended, made the news. Bishop Blair then sent this letter to his priests, subtly blaming the Fr. Nuss controversy on Fr. Leyland, implying that he leaked the information in a futile attempt to keep his job at St. Rose. Bishop Blair said the priest committed the "sin of detraction."
This is all so sad and so misleading. Fr. Leyland has done nothing wrong! He spoke up for what he believed in, feels he was unjustly punished, and then filed an appeal with the Vatican. But he had nothing to do with the Fr. Nuss affair getting to the media. I knew about this in May but was waiting to speak to the woman with whom the priest had the affair before reporting on it. That never happened. But the woman's friend wrote a letter to the bishop and to SNAP and SNAP then gave a copy of the letter to St. Rose parishioners to alert them so they were aware of the allegations against Fr. Nuss. They then asked the bishop, politely, during their meeting July 2 and the bishop "played dumb" about the allegations, as if he never heard them before.
What a tangled web we weave. Later, the diocese said the bishop could not acknowledge that he was aware of Fr. Nuss' "relationship" because of the seal of confession. Several experts in canon law have since told me that it is a violation of canon law for a bishop to hear confession of a priest, because it would violate their employer-employee relationship. And anther person said the bishop cannot cover something with the seal of confession "retroactively," i.e., he could not claim after the fact that it was a confession, if it were not told to him in that circumstances. And finally, if it were told in confession, it's puzzling that the diocese's publicist would sent out a press release about Fr. Nuss' affair last month to "get the truth out there."
All this is just another sordid mess that has turned some people away from church -- I know that because they have told me so.
Below this is a copy of the bishop's letter in question, written to the diocese's priests regarding Fr. Nuss and the implication that Fr. Leyland committed the "sin of detraction."

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Sylvania, Ohio
August 4, 2007

Here's a copy of my column in The Blade on The Simpsons Movie...
(if you prefer to read it on The Blade's website, go to www.toledoblade.com/religion):

Article published Saturday, August 4, 2007
Heavens! ‘Simpsons’ movie treats religion kindly

There’s a Christian Web site — never mind the name, it’s not important — that conducted a poll asking whether The Simpsons Movie “is appropriate for Christians.”

Of the 570 responses, 51 percent of the people said “No,” 17 percent said “Yes,” and 32 percent checked “Unsure.”

So, a majority of those voting felt the cartoon movie is offensive.

But wait!

There’s an important factor to consider when reviewing those numbers.

“The majority of Christians polled had not seen the movie, but based their answers on their opinion of the TV show,” the Web site reported.

“D’oh!”

Would you write a report on a book you haven’t read? Would you critique a concert you didn’t attend?

Of course not. So how much credibility can a poll have when the people who are casting their votes have never seen the movie in question?

I went to The Simpsons Movie, rated PG-13, on opening night. Not that I’m a Simpsons fanatic — I only watch the TV show occasionally — but it just worked out that way.

I think many of the people who voted that the film is offensive to Christians would be surprised by what they’d see on the silver screen. I know I was.

This is not a religious movie, of course, but spiritual themes are woven throughout the plot, starting with a scene in church where Grandpa Simpson gives a prophecy.

The scene is definitely over the top, with a beam of light hitting Grandpa and sending him into a seizure in which he rolls around in the aisle shouting what seems to be gibberish.

Homer’s wife, Marge, yells at him to “Do something!,” so Homer grabs a Bible, flips frantically through it, and shouts, “This book doesn’t have any answers!”

Offensive? Or does Homer represent people who have no clue what’s in the Bible, turn to it only in desperation, and don’t know where to look or what to look for?

As the story unfolds, everything in Grandpa’s cryptic prophecy comes to pass, just as the words of the divinely inspired Bible prophets invariably proved true.

Then there’s Ned Flanders, the Simpsons’ nerdy but kind evangelical Christian neighbor.

Of all the characters in The Simpsons Movie, Flanders is treated with the most respect by the screenwriters. In fact, it borders on reverence.

When Bart is feeling low, Ned offers him a cup of hot cocoa.

Bart turns down the offer, but Flanders goes ahead and makes him a cup of cocoa anyway. He places it on the windowsill, tops it off with whipped cream, cookies, and chocolate shavings, then walks away.

Bart sidles over, snatches the cup, and gulps down the cocoa.

In another scene, Homer, true to form as the world’s worst role model, dares his son to skateboard naked through town, which, of course, Bart does.

Bart, of course, gets in trouble, but Flanders is there to help. He gives Bart an extra pair of pants he happens to carry around, just in case, for his own two sons.

He tells Bart that Homer would do the same thing, but Bart knows better.

When an angry mob storms the Simpsons’ home, Flanders slips a wooden plank from his window to their house, helping the family escape.

Flanders’ uncompromising love and compassion spur Bart to tell Homer at one point that he wishes Ned were his father. And when it looks like Springfield is going to be destroyed, Bart hurries to church to be with Flanders during his last moments on Earth.

I kept expecting the filmmakers to pull the rug out from under Flanders, but they never did.

Another religious reference, lasting probably 10 seconds, made a lasting impression.

When doomsday looked imminent, we get a view of a church, and a bar next door. Suddenly, a crowd runs screaming out of the church and into the bar, while another crowd runs screaming from the bar into the church.

I can’t speak with much authority about the TV show, but I have interviewed experts who said that it makes more references to God, prayer, and faith than any prime-time program except Seventh Heaven and Touched by an Angel.

There’s no doubt that most of those references are sarcastic and skeptical, so it’s understandable why one would assume the movie treats faith the same way. The Simpsons Movie is still The Simpsons, not Little House on the Prairie or Veggie Tales. But when it comes to dealing with matters of faith, the goofy yellow cartoon family is much kinder and gentler on the big screen.

David Yonke is The Blade’s religion editor. Contact him at dyonke@theblade.com or 419-724-6154.

One of the true joys of being a journalist is meeting extraordinary people like Sister Rose Bernard Groth. Here is a link to the article I wrote about her that ran in today's Blade.
This Toledo-born Sister of Notre Dame moved to Papua New Guinea in 1964 and has been serving the people there ever since. She started out as a teacher and is now working with AIDS and HIV patients, giving them everything from medicine and food to hope and prayer.
I am honored to have spent an hour with this nun, who left for PNG later last week. She was not looking for publicity or recognition, she is just doing her job, day by day, showing these poor souls the love of Christ.
But she also recognizes that publicity could help raise awareness of her mission and possibly raise some money as well. Like virtually all ministries, she can use extra money for such things as anti-retro-viral drugs, transportation costs, and housing the AIDS patients at her two-bedroom Shalom Care Center for a week at a time, which costs her about $100 per person per week.
There are so many people out there who are working so hard without any desire for personal fame or adulation. I am glad to shine a light on Sister Rose's work and I hope the article does help her mission in some way.

My articles have been generating a lot of comments lately, some good and some bad, some directed at me and others at the people whom I wrote about.
I don't mind complaints, they come with the territory. In fact, I am glad when people write and express their opinions, because it means they are reading The Blade.
But sometimes, the criticism is just plain baffling.
Take, for example, a letter to the editor published in The Blade today by a retired Catholic priest, the Rev. Earl Loeffler. He complained that I wrote a story about an atheist, Nica Lalli, that ran on the religion page July 14. (Here's a link to the story.)
Father Loeffler (who, for those who care about such things, doesn't wear a Roman collar) felt it was the equivalent of running a sports story on the business pages. Then he added this bizarre comment: "It does make one wonder about The Blade’s desire to be accurate and precise."
Really now, give me a break!
What is the correlation between accuracy and precision in reporting, and putting a story about an atheist on the religion pages?
Where would a story about an atheist be better suited -- on the news pages? Not unless an atheist blew up a church or something. Where else, then, in the comic section because you personally don't agree with her worldview? The editorial pages? The health section? No, the only appropriate place for such a story is the religion section.
To quote the dictionary, religion is "a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usu. involving devotionial and ritual observances, and containing a moral code for the conduct of human affairs."
Atheism is defined as "the belief that there is no God."
Writing about atheism involves a person's belief system or worldview, i.e., whether they believe in God or no God. Atheism fits the first part of the dictionary definition of religion, regarding a "set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe." It doesn't include a "superhuman agency," but that's not a necessary part of the definition of religion.
I try to write about all religions and faiths and traditions, and even those who don't believe in religion. The religion section is the perfect place for such articles.
To be perfectly frank, the fact that someone would question the "accuracy and precision" of The Blade's news coverage because an article about an atheist ran in the religion section is one of the most ignorant and inappropriate criticisms I've ever seen.
* * *
On the other hand, I received a scathing letter over the weekend about my column on The Simpsons Movie, and the criticism is well taken. The writer made some valid points.
The letter writer was offended by the naked skateboarding scene in which Bart Simpson's cartoon genitalia were briefly displayed, and also by a homosexual kiss between two male police officers, by Marge Simpson's use of the Lord's name in vain when she yelled at Homer to "throw the G.D. bomb", and by a young boy's comment (Wiggum) after seeing Bart skate by that "now I like boys."
The woman's criticisms are valid and her points are justifiable and reasonable.
I'm sorry that I forgot about mentioning Marge's language. But I thought the nude skateboarding and the gay kiss were No Big Deals, considering their cartoonishness (is that a word?) and the fact that it was The Simpsons.
I'm surprised the complainant did not mention "The Boob Lady" who rescues Homer from a snowstorm, then appears as an image in the sky when he is about to collapse and uses one of her giant breasts to point him in the right direction.
I tried to point out in the column that this is not the Veggie Tales... of course there will be some questionable scenes. But I still was amazed at how reverently the Simpsons Movie treated Ned Flanders and religion in general.
This time, the writer's complaints were valid, unlike Father Loeffler's strange and twisted logic.
Toledo, Ohio
August 6, 2007

The transcript of Father Gerald Robinson's murder trial is complete -- 4,000 pages in total, purchased by his attorneys at $2.75 per page. That adds up to $11,000.
The priest's attorneys also requested to be able to file an 80-page brief, 50 pages beyond the usual limit of 30 pages, explaining their reasons for appealing the verdict that the priest was guilty of murder. The judge agreed to let them file 60 pages, double the normal limit.
The brief will likely be filed by fall and a response from prosecutors by the end of year. The trial may be ready to roll early in 2008, according to an extremely reliable source.
The publication date for the paperback version of Sin, Shame & Secrets has been pushed back a week to Feb. 15. It probably will be moved again before it's all said and done.
Meanwhile, Fred Rosen's book on the Robinson case is coming out in November, titled Killer Priest. And William Glast has one coming out early next year. I heard there's a third one in the works also.
It will be interesting to see what they have to say and how they say it. Even more interesting will be how much support they get from their publishers and how much interest their books generate in this extraordinary case.
Toledo, Ohio
August 7, 2007

Attorneys representing convicted murderer Fr. Gerald Robinson filed an appeal yesterday in Ohio's 6th District Court of Appeals challenging the verdict.
Their brief claims that too much time had passed between the time of the murder in 1980 and the arrest of the priest in 2004, compromising the evidence and basing testimony on faded memories. Also that the prosecutors hyped the case by bringing in allegations that Sr. Margaret Ann Pahl was killed in what may have been a satanic ritual.
I will post more information when available.
Toledo, Ohio
Aug. 9, 2007

I joined several hundred devout Catholics -- mostly Iraqi Chaldeans, Lebanese Maronites and Albanians -- in a procession Wednesday for the Feast of the Assumption of Mary in Carey, Ohio. Here is the Blade article (can you spot me in the crowd?).
I was there strictly for business, however, not personal devotion. I am somewhat amazed at the worship of Mary. She holds a special place in history as the mother of Jesus but I don't believe she is to be worshipped. She is a human being and the Bible warns many times against worshipping anyone but God.
The Catholic doctrine on the Immaculate Conception, claiming that Mary was not conceived by man, was not promulgated until the 1850s. And the doctrine about her being assumed, body and soul, into heaven also was not promulgated until centuries after her death.
Anyway, here are a few random observations from my day at the National Basilica and Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation in Carey, Ohio:
I was speaking to a friar manning the information booth across from the national basilica when I saw a Chaldean man in sunglasses and black shirt waiting impatiently behind me. So I stepped aside and motioned for him to come forward.
The man leaned on the counter and took a thick wad of bills, wrapped with a rubber band, from his pocket. The friar asked how he could be of help. "Prayer," the man said. "You want prayer?" the friar asked. "Yeah. Prayer, prayer," the man said, and started flicking through the wad of bills, dropping four twenties on the counter. Pause. Another twenty. "Give me prayer."
He darted away.
On the side of the basilica is a large rectangular structure, about 12 feet wide, 4 feet deep, and 8 feet high, with a sign saying "Holy Water," and topped by a cross. There are about 10 faucets attached. People were filling water bottles, jugs, and pitchers with the holy water. A couple of people washed their faces with it while the water poured out of the faucet. I saw one woman take out an empty plastic Evian water bottle, fill it with holy water, and gulp it down.
I wonder what the church rules are on use of holy water? I wonder why none of the friars said anything to the face-washers? I wonder how they bless the water when it is coming out of pipes? Do they bless the reservoir?
These are little questions that have been nagging me since my visit.
I bought an empty bottle, an official shrine bottle, at the shrine bookstore, filled it with water and gave it to an assistant city editor who is a Catholic. The newsroom can use some divine blessings.
* * *
I just read an article by atheist author Christopher Hitchins in Vanity Fair about his experiences on a book tour promoting his best-seller, God Is Not Great. The guy's arrogance is incredible. He is quite proud of his ability to debate religious people and mocks Americans for their ignorance of their own faith. But what Hitchins does not understand is that faith is not rational and not something for intellectual argument. You can be an intellectual and you can be a person of faith, however. They are not mutually exclusive despite some assertions to that end. Unfortunately, many religious leaders who enter into debates with intellectuals like Hitchins are outgunned from the start, and cannot explain their beliefs intelligently and perhaps don't even understand why they believe what they believe. They are asking for a whuppin' if they enter the ring with Hitchins. You need to do your homework and know why you are a Christian, or a Muslim, or Jew. And not just because you say so or you believe so. Why? What makes you so sure you're right? This is a healthy stance to take -- you should be prepared to defend your beliefs, as Apostle Paul advises believers.
* * *
I went to www.bible.com, a very useful web site for finding scriptures in different biblical translations, but not very good for other resources. I looked at the "Bible answers" link, for example, and it listed the top 20 questions on "what does the Bible say about..." Guess what Question No. 5 was? "... Internet hoaxes." I'm not kidding you.
Obviously, St. Paul just clicked on www.snopes.com.
Toledo, Ohio
August 18, 2007

My daughter Dana was married on Saturday, and it was quite a momentous event in the lives of the Yonke family. And of course for her fiance, Matt Johnson, and his extended family.
Everything went well. I only cried before the ceremony, twice actually -- once when Dana walked into the sanctuary for photos with her bridesmaids about 1 1/2 hours before the wedding. "Daddy! I didn't expect to see you," she said, and started bawling. That brought tears to my eyes too, and we hugged and cried together. The next time the tears came was when I heard the string trio rehearsing "Here Comes the Bride." It just hit home at that moment, for some reason, that my little girl was actually getting married.
The ceremony itself went smoothly and Dana and Matt were smiling the whole time. When it was time for the recessional, Dana raised her hand with the bouquet in the air and just was beaming with joy.
I thought the father of the bride wouldn't have too much to do, and compared to the mother of the bride and Dana's sisters, that's true. But even so, it was a bit overwhelming for me. But we all made it through, and Dana and Matt are now on a cruise around the Hawaiian islands, and she is now Mrs. Matthew Johnson.
My 9-year-old nephew Spencer Dalton, who is like a 40-year-old man in a kid's body, cracked me up by telling me that he was glad Dana is married now because "she has someone to cuddle with all the time, and someone to take care of her, and you (meaning me) don't have to worry about her anymore."
Now that the big whirlwind of a family wedding is over, I hope to get back to a more regular routine blogging.
* * *
Today is the 2-year anniversary of Katrina. Just a few thoughts...
When Katrina was approaching the gulf coast, Janet and I were in a hotel room in Sydney, Australia, watching Fox News -- the only American channel there. I had been fearful of a hurricane hitting New Orleans ever since I visited the city in 2002 and saw how it was below sea level and so vulnerable. But as we waited for our limo to the airport, Fox news reported that Katrina had been downgraded from a category 4 to a category 3 hurricane and had veered slightly to the east of the city. So it looked like Katrina would not be as devastating as I feared.
When I arrived in L.A. after a 14-hour flight, I called the Blade newsroom and talked to then-city editor Jim Wilhelm. "New Orleans is gone," he said. "Just gone." I couldn't believe it. Here I had been thinking during the long flight that the hurricane would deal only a glancing blow to the crescent city. It turned out to be such a nightmare. I don't know if Nawlins will ever be the same. I doubt it.
Second, I went to the gulf coast in November, 2005, with a church to do some repair work. We shingled rooves, put in dry wall and ceilings, and similar jobs in the Pascagoula-Biloxi area. Here we were 50 miles east of New Orleans, 3 months after the hurricane, and entire neighborhoods were still devastated. I remember a small boat sitting against the glass doors of a church. The people in the church told me that the boat had provided an escape for a family who went from their flooded house to the church for help. Actually, the damage and the destruction were almost beyond belief. Entire houses had been washed into the gulf. In Biloxi, I saw two homes that had crashed together in the middle of the street, like a couple of wrecked cars. FEMA trailers were everywhere.
When we went to Lowe's every morning to stock up on supplies, the parking lot was full of church vans and trailers from all over the country. The FEMA people told me that although the government provided funds for hurricane victims, they couldn't provide the manpower to do the repairs. Much of the work was being done by volunteers from churches who came to help. Some homeowners told me that they couldn't hire anyone, there was no one available, and they were so thankful for the church mission teams that came to the area.
Last night, I interviewed New Orleans jazz musician Terence Blanchard, who is coming to town next week. He has released an album called "A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina)." Blanchard said he had to keep catching himself not to let his anger out on every song, but wanted to use his music to give a voice to all the people of the gulf coast who otherwise don't get a chance to express their feelings.
We should never forget Katrina and the aftermath of that ferocious storm.
Toledo, Ohio
August 29, 2007.
p.s. Some sharp-eyed readers may have noticed that Fr. Stanbery's postings are no longer online. He called me today and asked to withdraw it, which I did. For unspecified reasons.