Sample Letter to the Bishop

December 8, 2025

Dear Bishop Patrick Neary, C.S.C.,

Every so often an Advent scripture reading cuts to one’s heart.  This happened to me yesterday while I was doing lectio on Matthew 9. The following caught me by surprise.

At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because

they were troubled and abandoned, like a sheep without a shepherd.

It saddens me to inform you that a significant number of your co-workers in the evangelizing mission of the Saint Cloud Diocese are deeply troubled and hurting. It saddens me to inform you that last Thursday I heard the anguish of a Catholic school teacher say: “Where is our shepherd?” This was voiced at a meeting December 4th of fifty Catholic school and parish current and retired employees who are being impacted by the Christian Brother’s pension plan fiasco. 

Why did this gathering of fifty currently employed and retired happen?  

After the November 20th diocesan zoom meeting on the pension plan, Mary Cheryl Opatz and I conferred and thought the diocese failed to listen to the concerns of the current and retired employees. The zoom meeting was informative, but we felt diocesan leaders did not listen to the concerns of those most impacted. We decided to set up a listening session at the Saint Cloud library for current and retired employees with the goals of listening to their concerns, identifying our expectations from the diocese, and developing an action plan. At this listening session, after each person shared their stories, the fifty of us developed the following consensus expectations.

We want better representation on the Diocesan Pension Committee.

• The stakeholders should all be represented, especially teachers and the schools.
• Current employees and retired employees also need representation on the committee.

We want better communication and more involvement from the bishop.

• We want the bishop to write/video a message about this pension problem to be shared at all the masses.
• We want the bishop to set up listening sessions with current and retired employees impacted by this pension problem.
• We want all current and retired employees impacted by the CB retirement plan to receive information regularly from the diocese.
• We want the bishop to initiate a diocesan capital campaign to cover any losses current and retired employees will incur from reductions to their pensions.

We want transparency from the Diocesan Pension Committee

• We want to see the minutes from the diocesan pension committee meetings past and future.
• We want to know the specific financial implications for current and retired employees related to each of the four options presented on the zoom meeting.

The November 20th diocesan zoom meeting left many of us with the impression that the diocese was telling us to simply “trust them” to make the best decision for everyone.  It is very difficult to “trust” without being listened to. We believe like you, that listening is one of the most important aspects of Christian leadership.  

I’m enclosing the minutes from our December 4th meeting so you can see some of the comments from participants. We ask you to quickly set up listening sessions so you can personally hear the hurt, anger, and heartbreak of your co-workers.  We hope that your heart can be moved as you listen to our trouble and anguish. 

Simply put we need our shepherd. We ask you to listen to us.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Kaster, Ed.D.

jjfkaster@gmail.com

320 266-5247