A much-publiched scandal within its ranks forces the Archdiocese of Boston to rethink its development plan.

By David Mckenna

It was a crucial campaign, because the Catholic Appeal is the lifeblood of archdiocesan works. It underwrites, in part or in whole, all of the services, programs, agencies and ministries that the church operates throughout eastern Massachusetts.

The Appeal raised $15.8 million in 2001, but only $8.8 million in 2002, by which time 2 million Catholics in the archdiocese had fully absorbed the extent of the scandal. Part of the problem was that the Appeal had always been called the Cardinal’s Appeal.