More Contradictions

I got an e-mail from a visitor who points out a contradiction between the list of parishes and missions on the ACA Diocese of the Northeast web page and the list of congregations contained in the most recent update to the diocesan canons. According to Canon 15.5 of the the latter, which I've re-formatted for readability,

At the time of the adoption of this Canon, the Congregations of this Diocese are:

In Maine:
St. Mark, Cornish;

In Massachusetts:
St. Columba, Dudley;
St. George, Easthampton;
Holy Spirit, Pepperell;
St. Matthew, Boston;

In New Hampshire:
St. Elphege, Winchester;
St. Luke, Amherst;
St. Margaret of Scotland, Conway;

In New York:
St. Elizabeth, Tuxedo;
Holy Cross, Rochester;
Holy Innocents, Scarborough;
St. Joseph, Brooklyn;
St. Jude, The Bronx;
St. Winifred, Hollis;

In Rhode Island:
St. Matthias, Ashaway;

In Vermont:
All Saints, Danville;
St. Andrew, Randolph Center;
St. David, Poultney.

In a previous post, I noted a 31% decline between a 2009 total for the Diocese of the Northeast and the "official" listing of parishes on the web site as of now. In response, someone posting as "ed pacht" on Fr Anthony Chadwick's blog commented

I’m sorry, but I find myself wondering what world the blog author inhabits. I’ve witnessed the same events as he, and lament at the confusion, misunderstanding, and clumsy actions I’ve seen on both (all?) sides. Self-righteous condemnation by any of the parties about any of the others is entirely out of place. His characterization of my diocese (The Northeast) is nothing short of bizarre. Did he bother to inquire, for instance, as to why the numbers seemed to fluctuate? Did he take note that there was a brief increase in numbers coming from the merely temporary joining of an APCK diocese and its bishop? Did he notice that the drop he perceives was a result of those same churches moving on to ACC? All that was a blip, temporary. Yes, some small and non-viable missions have closed. Others are being founded, and many parishes are growing. As Mark Twain once said, reports of our demise are somewhat exaggerated.

However, I count 17 parishes in good standing in the current version of the canons, versus 27 on the diocesan web site. The world I inhabit is, I would guess, just down the road from El Rushbo's Realville, and what I see there says to me

• The number of parishes in the Diocese of the Northeast has been declining
• The numbers don't seem to be fluctuating so much as they're just declining.

There's no question that there may be explanations of one sort or another for all the discrepancies we're seeing, but the fact is that they're discrepancies, and people are noticing them. "ed pacht" asks if I've bothered to inquire about the reasons -- if he can give me a contact, I'll be happy to, although I've had e-mails from Anthony Morello (who's told me to stop e-mailing him), and from Bishop Marsh, who's told me that basically I'm the only one causing trouble here. Can ed point me to someone who'll answer any questions I might have? And it seems as if other folks are reading this blog and coming up with questions of their own.

I'll be happy, as I am here, to follow up on tips and points of information that visitors may choose to send, and I'll keep any identities confidential.