Was Dcn Orr Thrown Under The Bus?

Over the past several weeks, I've received a record number of e-mails on any subject other than St Mary's Hollywood, these from OLA parishioners. Most appear to be in the minority that's been opposed to Fr Phillips for years. My judgment is that these people have been well-informed. In addition, they aren't unanimous on many points -- some clearly feel Dcn Orr actively molested boys; others feel this is just an unfortunate interpretation. This tends to reinforce my view that these e-mails are credible. It's been my practice to post all these remarks anonymously, and in addition, in some cases to post only paraphrases based on requests from the senders. I assume those familiar with the parish can infer the identities of most informants.

An informant tells me that when Dcn Orr retired, his mother stopped attending mass at OLA, apparently blaming Fr Phillips. This suggests that removing Orr from direct association with the parish might have been a condition imposed by Bp Lopes. However, another visitor provides additional context to Orr's retirement:

[It] is against Archdiocesan rules for any permanent deacon to be an employee of a parish. Yet Dcn Orr effectively ran the Atonement for years. Especially once Ralph Johnston died, all employees reported up through Jim Orr. Jim even became the Headmaster for a year - he was the only direct report Fr. Phillips had. They were able to do this because Jim Orr did not receive a paycheck from the parish, he received his paycheck from the slush fund "Our Lady's Dowry". [Link here.] This is not hearsay - Jim Orr told me this himself. He is still listed as the Secretary of the 501c3 slush fund which was a way Fr. Phillips was able to get wealthy benefactors to give money to the parish while bypassing the Archdiocese and what Fr. Phillips called the Archbishops "tax" on contributions. This was the kind of thing Fr. Phililips would pride himself on doing. He used to brag that "he didn't kiss anyone's ass, especially a Mexican archbishop". BTW, on this link, you will note that Orr is also in a partnership with a venture called ZOAR Farms. He has a partner named [redacted]. [Redacted] is one of the young men Jim befriended and attempted to groom since he was 12 years old. Thankfully, [he] was married to a nice young lady last year and she has effectively convinced [him] to sever all ties with Orr.

One question would be whether Orr, "retiring" as a deacon and administrator, may still be drawing a paycheck from Our Lady's Dowry. I've heard from others that Our Lady's Dowry has been a bone of contention with the archdiocese. The version I've heard is that it was used only to purchase the new BDW missals, but it sounds as though its revenues and activities went far beyond this. In addition, one might view the cathedraticum as a "tax", but evading payment, a secular crime, is stealing, as far as I can see.

Has Bp Lopes discussed Our Lady's Dowry with Fr Phillips?

There are visitors better able to search non-profit data than I am. I would be most grateful for any information they might be able to provide over this charity.

UPDATE: This link gives financial information for Our Lady's Dowry. The 2014 year seems to be the most recently available. It had one employee. He was paid $70,875 in salary and benefits, with revenue of $98,773. This, it seems to me, would go to confirm that its main function was to pay Dcn Orr in contravention of archdiocesan policy.