A visitor reports that, as expected, the US-Canadian Ordinariate began its Bishop's Appeal to raise funds for Bp Lopes's travel and chancery expenses. But it appears that those in charge neglected to check if Canadian donations would be receiptable (in the US, "tax deductible"). in Canada, they aren't, because the money is going out of the country. It would be possible to set up a Canadian fund-raising arm with charitable status, but this would require lead time and legal help.
In addition, "suggested donations" were assessed for individual Canadian groups in American dollars based on 2015 Canadian-dollar givings, without considering that currently, a Canadian dollar is worth about US$0.75. Thus the solicitation seems unnecessarily burdensome.
It's hard to avoid the impression that the Houston staff is coasting. Bp Lopes is going to have to clean house.
