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Archiver > GENIRE > 1999-08 > 0933574321


From: "Mary & Gus Ellis" <>
Subject: Re: excessive charges
Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1999 23:12:01 -0700


Sorry Denis - You miss the point. We are talking today's time, personnel
and money not the years gone by. Today the Catholic Church in Ireland
and the United States is so lacking in vocations that they can't even
adequately staff the churches to fulfill their primary purpose of
administering to their parishioners. They are importing priests from
third world countries to help them just as in the years not so long gone
the Irish priests followed their parishioners to America and in some
cases led them.

How much is your time worth? How much an hour should you be paid? What
was the cost of the thousands - nay - millions of “person”-hours (to be
PC)that went into building the Ancestral Files, the IGI, and recently
the Vital Records Indexes and the 1881 English Census with the help of
many Non-Mormon volunteers - many being quote Catholics unquote?

The Celtic Tiger, following in the footsteps of the United States, seems
to be too busy worshiping their new god - money. How may quote
Catholics unquote do you know who give 10% of their money and/or time to
their church as the Mormons do? How many quote Catholics unquote do you
know that go to church regularly and offer their time to help out. How
many only see the inside of their church to be "Hatched, Matched &
Despatched". Gee ,isn't that just the information we're looking for?

Years ago Australians tried to cover-up the fact they were convicts -
today their ancestors hope they find their forefathers coming to "Botany
Bay". How many times have you heard someone say I know more about my
ancestors they any of my relatives still living in Ireland or England or
Scotland or wherever??? Let's face it - to use an honored old Irish
expression - "They just don't give a (tinker's) damn. Could it be that
Americans with more money and leisure time than any people in past
history are finding a new religion - Ancestor Worship - of course that's
old hat in the Far East.

But enough of this. Let me climb down from the pulpit and try to be
positive.
I'm quite willing to pay a good sum to get the ball rolling and I'm
willing to give 5 hours a week at least to copying records and putting
them in a database that could to put together with all the other
volunteers who would be willing to do the same. Hell I'm retired now -
make that 10 to 20 hours a week maybe - it's a darn sight less than what
I lost the last time I went to Las Vegas and the lottery is still eating
up 3 or more dollars a week.

Gus Ellis
Los Angeles, CA USA

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