That was the subject line on an e-mail I received from a deacon friend, who forwarded me this article from a newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin.

I hadn’t heard anything about it, but it looks like something we should keep an eye on:

A fundraising firm hired by the Madison Catholic Diocese to gauge support for rebuilding St. Raphael Cathedral says Bishop Robert Morlino insisted the firm turn over confidential information gathered from surveys and interviews, including the names of priests who complained about Morlino.

The firm, Phoenix Fundraising Counsel of Madison, says it refused to disclose the confidential data on priests and parishioners and now can’t get the diocese to pay its bill.

It has sued the diocese in Dane County Circuit Court for payment of at least $350,000, which includes work on a feasibility study and a planned capital campaign.

The episode is the latest controversy for Morlino, a blunt-spoken bishop who has sometimes been accused of heavy-handedness during his five-year tenure, particularly in his relations with priests.

The lawsuit comes at a critical point for the diocese as it tries to rally support for replacing St. Raphael, the Downtown Madison cathedral destroyed by an arsonist in 2005. A planned capital campaign to rebuild the cathedral and pay for other projects, such as a priest retirement fund, was put on hold by Morlino in April.

The diocese has never revealed a goal for the campaign, but the lawsuit says Morlino favors a $70 million campaign.

Morlino declined an interview request Thursday. Diocese spokesman Brent King said the diocese does not comment on pending litigation and no one, including the diocese’s attorney, would address the issue further. King described the lawsuit as a disagreement over “fair compensation for services rendered.”

According to the lawsuit, Phoenix Fundraising surveyed 6,000 parishioners and interviewed 83 diocesan priests. In a letter last November that is part of the lawsuit, Morlino told parishioners “all responses will be considered confidential.”

Priests also were granted confidentiality, according to the lawsuit. This was especially critical so they “felt free to comment without fear of repercussion,” the lawsuit says. Many of these priests “expressed concerns that were later summarized, without identifying information, in a report” to Morlino.

John Richert, president of Phoenix Fundraising, contends in the lawsuit that when he met with Morlino March 7, the bishop wanted the firm to turn over all 6,000 surveys as well as information from the priest interviews.

“Bishop Morlino insisted on the disclosure of the confidential data, including the names of specific priests who had expressed concerns or registered complaints about Bishop Morlino during the survey process,” the lawsuit says. “Bishop Morlino was visibly agitated when Richert refused to turn over this confidential information.”

At a meeting 19 days later, Morlino informed Richert that the diocese would no longer need the firm’s services, the lawsuit says. Monsignor Donald Heiar also was at the meeting.

“Monsignor Heiar and Dr. Richert agreed after that meeting that Bishop Morlino did not want Phoenix Fundraising to continue on the capital campaign because he was upset that Mr. Richert refused to turn over the confidential responses from the priests for his review,” the lawsuit says.

Heiar could not be reached for comment. Richert did not return messages. Attorney Timothy Edwards, who represents Phoenix, was out of town and unavailable.

Check out the link for the rest. And let’s keep this diocese, and its bishop, in our prayers.