BOSTON - Despite dire financial straits, the Boston Archdiocese is refusing to accept money from a lay group it maintains is undermining its own fund-raising efforts, the Boston Globe reported.

Bishop Richard G. Lennon, interim leader of the archdiocese, also specifically barred Catholic Charities from accepting money from Voice of the Faithful, a national organization of lay persons. Catholics upset over the church's failure to remove sexually abusive priests from ministry formed the group, headquartered in Newton, Mass., last year. It now counts 25,000 members nationwide.

Catholic Charities, which serves 200,000 people each year, accepted $56,000 from Voice of the Faithful after the group had been turned away by Cardinal Bernard F. Law last year. So far, the group has raised $49,000 this year from more than 600 people unwilling to give directly to the archdiocesan fund-raising campaign, the newspaper reported.

The Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, an archdiocesan spokesman, said Lennon believes Voice of the Faithful's fund-raising effort, called Voice of Compassion, is undermining its own efforts and has imposed unacceptable restrictions on its donations by demanding that the money not be used for administrative expenses of the archdiocese.

Peter G. Meade, vice chairman of Catholic Charities, told the newspaper he was not sure how the board would respond to Lennon's action. "The board's position has been very clear -- we are continuing a hundred-year-long position of accepting money from those who contribute, and it would be profoundly sad if we had to revisit this issue," he said. "This isn't about power or politics, but about feeding the hungry and clothing the naked."

The archdiocese of Boston is struggling financially, the newspaper reported, as the down economy and the clergy abuse scandal have hindered fund-raising. Last year it raised $8.6 million, compared with $16.2 million in 2001.