NATION - News Briefs

National Catholic Reporter, June 15, 2001 by Gill Donovan

Under a new policy, every time a church property is deemed "surplus" because it no longer serves a religious function, the archdiocese will review whether it can be converted into apartments. No other diocese in the country has made such a commitment, according to the archdiocese's Planning Office for Urban Affairs.

With Boston rental vacancy rates below 1 percent and studio apartments seldom renting for less than $1,000 per month, the archdiocese has leaned on businesses, governments and colleges to address what it calls a regional housing crisis. But the church also needs to do its part, according to General Director Monsignor Michael F. Groden.

"The church is never going to be a massive supplier of housing," Groden said. "But if you're going to stand out there and tell people to shelter the homeless, then you've got to do a bit of it yourself."

About two-thirds of the new apartments on church property will house low- and moderate-income residents. The remaining third will be available at market prices to offset development costs and keep prices low for those who need subsidies.

The Boston area needs 36,000 new housing units to stabilize the market, according to a Northeastern University/Fleet Bank study commissioned by the archdiocese in 1999.

Priest arrested in online undercover operation

A New York priest and spiritual adviser at Trinity Catholic High School in Stamford, Conn., was arrested after having sexually explicit conversations online with a police officer claiming to be a 14-year-old boy.

Fr. John J. Costaldo was arrested May 24 for attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor, a crime for which he could receive up to four years imprisonment. Costaldo was the 42nd person arrested on such charges in Westchester County, N.Y., in an ongoing police undercover operation in which officers pose as children in online chat rooms.

District Attorney Jeanine Pirro told the Associated Press that Costaldo was arrested after describing to the undercover officer explicit sexual activity in which he wanted to take part.

In a letter to parents published on the school's Web site May 26, Trinity Catholic principal Peter M. Borchetta said that the Bridgeport diocese was taking the following steps regarding Costaldo: It relieved him of his assignment as chaplain at the school and as resident priest; removed his authorization to function as a priest; and is arranging for Costaldo to have a psychological evaluation and treatment.

Borchetta also said that counselors would be made available to students, staff and parents to reassure and allay concerns they might have regarding Costaldo's arrest.

Labor violations common in poultry industry

Members of a coalition led by the Chicago-based National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice are urging the U.S. Department of Labor to pursue strict enforcement of wage and hour laws being violated by the poultry industry.

The coalition cited a 2000 survey by the Labor Department that said 100 percent of poultry plants surveyed failed to pay workers for all hours worked, and improperly denied overtime wages to 65 percent of workers. In addition, 35 percent of poultry workers had illegal deductions taken from their paychecks.