President of Province IX Protests Budget Decisions
Episcopal News Service. June 12, 1991 [91143Y]
In a letter written on behalf of Episcopalians in Province IX, the Rt. Rev. Neptali Larrea, president of the province, registered objections to budgetary cuts in the church that adversely affect dioceses in Latin America. "The freezing of our diocesan subsidy for the years 1989-1991 has had the impact of a deduction and has limited our efforts towards the autonomy we all desire," Larrea wrote. "The unilateral decision to retain 5 percent of our 1991 budgets has further aggravated the function of our respective dioceses," he continued. Larrea requested that the 5 percent budget restriction be abolished, and that the 1992 budget presented by the province be adopted. "We emphatically affirm our right to participate in decisions that affect us, and we will not accept a passive role as receptors of policies that harm the financial health of our church, the quality of life of our people, and our witness and missionary actions," Larrea said.