Agency Will Defy Bishop on Donation

A Roman Catholic social services agency has voted to accept $35,000 from a lay reform group that has been critical of the church over the sexual abuse scandal, saying its responsibility to the poor outweighs an edict from the head of the archdiocese.

“We have a fiduciary obligation to the poor people of the Greater Boston area,” Dr. Joseph Doolin, Catholic Charities president, said after the board of trustees’ vote Tuesday.

Last week, Bishop Richard Lennon, the interim successor to Cardinal Bernard Law, directed the agency not to take the money from Voice of the Faithful.

Trustees said they met with Lennon to explain why the agency probably would accept the donation, which will be used to fund food pantries.

“This was a painful decision,” said board chairman Neil Finnegan. “It did not feel like defying the bishop -- it felt like we were put in a tough spot and made a decision that the vast majority of the board felt more comfortable with.”

In a statement, Lennon said he was “disappointed” by the vote, but would not take any action in response, adding that one of his chief aims is to “work toward ending division and fostering unity within the Archdiocese of Boston.”

A church spokesman, Father Christopher Coyne, has said the reform group’s fund-raising is hurting the church’s own efforts to raise money.

Coyne also said the archdiocese expected Catholic Charities to refuse the money because its bylaws require it to follow church policies.

Members of Voice of the Faithful, which claims 30,000 members in the U.S., gathered in Wellesley on Tuesday night to attend a Lenten prayer service officiated by Lennon.

“At the end of the day, they decided the needs of the people took precedence over the needs of the power structure,” said Steve Krueger, the group’s executive director.