Michael Paulson is in Rome this week to cover the elevation of Boston Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley to cardinal.

Letters on letters

Greetings from rainy Rome, where photographer David Ryan and I have just arrived and are off in search of the archbishop.

One item from last week's interview with the archbishop that is causing some chatter in my inbox is the assertion by one of his aides, Rev. Robert Kickham, that "Every effort is made to respond to every piece of correspondence." I heard from two folks who are not likely to be on Archbishop O'Malley's list of favorite correspondents, and they offered differing assessments of how well O'Malley's staff is doing at the important task of acknowledging input and invitations.

Chris O'Brien is a parishioner at St. Bernard's Church in West Newton; that parish was briefly closed and occupied, and is now reopened but fighting for its life as the archdiocese decides which parishes in Newton to close. Chris says letters from the Friends of St. Bernard's go unanswered. "The archbishop has been and continues to be out of touch with reality. His staff lets him believe that everything is doing just fine. The assertion that there is anything approaching a response to every letter is, of course, laughable. It casts a shadow over every other happy assertion by the archbishop in the interview."

But I also heard from Charles Martel, an outspoken gay Catholic who is a leader of the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry. Charles has been critical in the past of O'Malley's failure to acknowledge overtures from gay Catholics, but in response to the interview he writes to say, "A couple of weeks ago I sent O'Malley a letter on RCFM stationery identifying myself as a board member and also as project coordinator of Roman Catholics for the Freedom to Marry. I sent him two books, one about ten gay couples, and one by a lesbian about her life and her marriage to her partner Kathleen. I happened to meet both of these authors at a book reading, and asked each of them to inscribe a note to the archbishop. (neither of them ever imagined that kind of a request!!) I received a letter last week from the archbishop's secretary that was very cordial and gracious, expressing appreciation for sending the books. This is the first time I have ever received any reply to a letter to the archbishop."

Archbishop O'Malley warned me in the interview against generalizing based on anecdotes, but I think I can safely say, based on multiple interviews over the years, that the correspondence operation at chancery appears to have virtually collapsed in 2002, during the height of the abuse crisis, when the volume of letters and e-mails was just way more than the archdiocese could handle, and that the chancery continued to struggle with the huge volume of mail generated by the parish closings controversy. It now sounds like there are some indications that the situation is improving. Stay tuned.