The Canon Law Society Of America
1994 was the year that the Board of Governors of the Canon Law Society of America commissioned a study to determine how the obligations of justice regarding the canonical requirements for retirement benefits of diocesan priests and others were currently being satisfied by provisions in the USA dioceses. Its results were published in 1999 and will be referenced below. 

The Boston Advocacy Campaign
Over a three year period attorney McGreevy sent a total of 4,000 letters to the Archdiocesan leadership and parishes on behalf of his classmate. He also organized a group of sixty resigned priests who supported the petitioner and requested that their own retirement benefits rights be acknowledged as well. Of the then 261 inactive priests related to the Archdiocese, 117 would have been eligible for a pension according to the lay pension plan, which vests after five years, at a cost of between $750,000 and $1,000,000. The Archdiocese finally took some affirmative action after an expose article in the Boston Globe by Pulitzer Prize writer Eileen McNamara, entitled "Abandoned by the Archdiocese." 

 

On St. Patrick's Day 1997 Cardinal Bernard Law announced that while he had been advised that there was, no civil or canonical obligation to provide such (retirement) benefits" he did not want any inactive priest to live in penury. Accordingly, on a case by case basis a determination of financial need would be made and assistance provided if necessary. It is clear that this is a policy  which is based on charity and not justice. This is evident in its differentiation from the Archdiocese's Lay Pension Plan which contractually vests an employee after five years of service as a component of their compensation for services rendered. 

 

As the word about the Boston dispute became public it also became clear that this was not just a Boston issue. This issue exists in most dioceses in the country and is one that affects many if not most married priests. 
 
Consultation by the CORPUS Board with Attorney McGreevy led to workshops on the topic at National CORPUS Conferences across the country. It also led to the decision to organize a national media and advocacy campaign beginning in 1998. Our initial goal was to achieve an equitable agreement with the bishops on this issue as part of the Millennial Year 2000 Reconciliation Jubilee. 

That hope went unsatisfied.