The only thing that surprises PopeWatch is that Gregory has a female press secretary.
PopeWatch: She?
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Quite the salary, she must “know” a lot. Terrible thing to say but what else explains it.
Living in the DC area is pretty expensive, but that does seem excessive
These days, one can’t assume that “she” was born female … Crazy times
Likely identifies as a “she”. Now the DC parishioners know where a portion of the collections goes. $240K for a press secretary?! Probably a bonus on top of that too.
A cynic might opine that $240K seems reasonable for someone whose job is to make Gregory and the DC Archdiocese look good. Last time I checked, only the names have changed since Uncle Ted left for greener pastures.
I think to myself that cannot be right, but every once in a while you turn up scandals in the world of nonprofit administration.
Note, the median cash compensation for a public relations specialist in this country is currently around $63,000 per year. In greater Washington, salaries in this segment appear to be around 40% higher than the national means, so let’s posit that the median therein is about $88,000 a year. Public relations managers in greater Washington are paid about 78% more than specialists. So, we might wager a median salary for a manager would be $158,000 a year. So, it would appear she’s paid 50% in excess of the median working for a nonprofit (if we assume there are enough layers underneath her to qualify her as a ‘manager’ and not a supervisor or specialist.
Maybe you just should not let clergymen handle money. Ever.
Note, working for a non profit which was (as recently as 60 years ago) staffed with people who had a vocation, not a trade or profession.
Remember Helen Dolan Wilson, so well taken care of by Cdl. Cody? (Andrew Greeley opined that she was a substitute mother for the cardinal). That matter was the subject of a grand jury investigation which was terminated when the Cdl. abruptly died. Won’t happen this time. The U.S. attorney’s office is too preoccupied with obtaining multi year prison sentences for trespassers.
A cynic might opine that $240K seems reasonable for someone whose job is to make Gregory and the DC Archdiocese look good.
Only if she succeeds.
“Only if she succeeds.”
Yes, I quite agree.
And that’s on top of the $2 million annual stipend paid to Donald Wuerl. Apparently, in Gregory’s DC, not talking to the press is worth a lot more than talking to them. 🙂
And that’s on top of the $2 million annual stipend paid to Donald Wuerl.
I suspect you’ve confused a lump-sum payment with an annual payment. (Either would be a scandal. An retired bishop should be satisfied with Social Security, Medicare, and a studio over his grand-niece’s garage).
“A March 3 examination of the archdiocese’s financial records by The Pillar found that Wuerl was allocated $2,012,639 for ‘continuing ministry activities’ during fiscal year 2020.
The amount appropriated to Wuerl is up from approximately $1.5 million in 2019. The archdiocesan financial statement does not detail what ‘continuing ministry activities’ the funds facilitated.”
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/246702/investigation-cardinal-wuerl-received-2-million-in-2020-for-ministry-activities
That’s frankly bizarre. I wonder if he’s blackmailing Gregory.
I didn’t expect to find confirmation of that figure, that’s for sure. And, I mean, he could still be doing some kind of work. He left under a cloud, but wasn’t booted out or anything.
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