"Dear Father Tosello: On February 26, 2009, you wrote to
me and submitted your resignation as Pastor of Saint
Christopher Parish, Prospect, in conformity with Canon
538.3. In your letter you also indicated your desire to
continue to serve that parish as Administrator. On April 15,
2009, the Very Reverend David J. Bonnar, Vicar for Clergy,
and the Very Reverend Jerome A. Dixon, Vicar for Retired
Priests, met with you to discuss more fully your request and
any other concerns you might have regarding your pastoral
ministry. They have shared their observations with me and
the Clergy Personnel Board. After consultation with the
Board, and in light of your own request, I accept your
resignation as Pastor of Saint Christopher Parish, Prospect,
effective Sunday, August 30, 2009. Effective the same
date, I appoint you Administrator of Saint Christopher
Parish. Following further discussion, I also grant you
permission to begin retirement effective Monday, February
1, 2010, at which time will also end your assignment as
Administrator of Saint Christopher Parish, Prospect. The
Very Reverend Harry R. Bielewicz, the newly appointed
Vicar for Clergy, will be in contact with you in late Fall to
discuss your plans for a residence following retirement.
On January 27, 2010, you will mark 25 years as the spiritual
leader for the faithful of Saint Christopher Parish. What
an honor! You will have the opportunity to celebrate with the
faithful of Saint Christopher Parish and I am certain
that they will rejoice with you. Throughout your entire
priesthood you have faithfully and zealously served Christ
and His Church. On behalf of the Church of Pittsburgh I
express my profound gratitude for your priestly example and
ministry. You are well aware that retirement from a priestly
assignment is never intended as a retirement from priestly
ministry. It is my hope that you will be able to continue your
priestly ministry in accord with your own wishes and at
your own pace. I am confident that in this time of retirement
you will be greatly rewarded for your labors. Grateful for our
belief that "Nothing is Impossible with God," I am Your
brother in Christ, Most Reverend David A. Zubik, Bishop of
Pittsburgh" DAZ/mam
"Your Excellency. I feel our Mother Church spoke to me
with her compassionate touch of gentle concern in your
letter of May 4, 2009. With this short note of reply, I want to
express to your Excellency and to the Pittsburgh Diocese
both my acceptance of your new assignments plans and my
personal gratitude. On the day he appointed me pastor in
1985, Bishop Bevilacqua urged me to search for the roots of
a long reported sense of discouragement that had been
growing in this parish. He urged me to use my missionary
background to initiate the solution to his concern. Over the
last 25 years, both Your Excellency and your predecessors
have monitored how our parish has successfully
implemented the rescue plan. Since our earliest Pastoral
Council meetings, I have systematically promoted the
progressive confronting and solving our numerous parish
concerns. Both community and individuals responded to the
challenge. By adopting forms of individual and groups
stewardship whereby households and organizations agreed
to be responsible and accountable for at least one aspect of
our parish life, the parish progressively became more self-
sufficient and alive. A nationally conducted survey of
parishes even studied our approach. Our generous families,
both the original members and those who followed them
over the years, have persevered in living up to this self-
sacrificing style of stewardship. They saw it as Biblical in
origin, evident in the early Christian Communities, practiced
even today throughout the world wide small mission
churches and, above all, absolutely necessary for St.
Christopher parish to thrive. The result was the resurrection
of this parish from its previous sense of discouragement.
The impetus is still evident. Being ordained, like all the
clergy, as 'a priest forever', it is not in my nature to adapt
my life to sitting on the fence as a passive observer of
God's global and local harvesting. I would love to continue
to remain at your Excellency's disposal should my talents
be seen still useful. I remain gratefully and prayerfully yours,
Fr. Matthew Tosello, Ph, D., Pastor of St. Christopher.