Report on November 15, 2012, Hearing on Archdiocesan Finances

December 12, 2012
Report of Hearing, November 15, 2012
Council of the Baptized, Research/Drafting Committee

Recommendation to the Archdiocese to join the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management

For 4 years now, concerned Catholics have been meeting together, listening to each other and trying to put their fingers on the main issues causing lay alienation from the Archdiocese, people leaving the Catholic Church, and financial contributions going down. Sponsored by the Catholic Coalition for Church Reform (CCCR), the Resource Team on Archdiocesan Financial Transparency and Accountability brought its concern to the Council of the Baptized in April, 2012.The Council accepted the proposal to recommend to the Archdiocese that it join the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management.

The Roundtable advocates standards of excellence for dioceses, parishes, and Catholic non-profits.It provides resources and assessment tools for its members to develop best practices in financial transparency as well as openness in other management areas.Several dioceses in the U.S. and several parishes in the St. Paul and Minneapolis Archdiocese belong to the NLRCM as does CCCR. For further information, please go to www.nlrcm.org.

To assess the concerns of the faithful about supporting their parishes and the Archdiocese financially, the Council’s Research/Drafting Committee held a hearing November 15, 2012, 7-9 p.m., 2280 Cliff Road in Eagan, MN.Approximately 100 people from 23 parishes attended this session.

Coming as it did right after the hotly contested election which saw controversial Archdiocesan efforts for the Marriage Amendment, there were of course many sad or angry comments about the use of Archdiocesan funds in that political campaign and about personal agonies in response to certain actions and words of Church leaders about gay people. Those concerns will be addressed to the Archbishop in other communications.

There were, however, significant concerns expressed about Archdiocesan finances, as voiced in their answers to a 14-question survey, open-ended written questions, and an “open mike” session in which 15 people stood and voiced their thoughts and feelings. Here are the main issues surfaced:

1. 1) 98% (85 of 87) want the Archdiocese to commit to the well-tested standards of excellence in openness and transparency represented by active membership in the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management
2. 2) 89% (77 of 87) would attend a question and answer session with the Archdiocesan CFO or his representatives
3. 3) 95% (83 of 87) want their parishes to be financially secure, but 81% (72 of 87) are “conflicted” that part of their financial contribution goes to the Archdiocese. This seems to be a matter of lack of openness and completeness in how the Archdiocese communicates its financial status and actual expenditures to the people.
4. 4) There is confusion and anger among those whose parishes have been directed not to do fund-raising for parish capital improvements because the Archdiocese has priority fund-raising now.
5. 5) One person, concerned about parish budget shortfalls, counted and reported that of 72 parishes reporting their YTD budgets in their bulletins, 71% (55 of 72) reported being behind budget, to a total of $1,194,000. He raised the question, “How do such parish shortfalls get resolved?”
6. 6) Reacting to the Archdiocesan financial report published online, several voiced concern about the percentage spent on administration vs. the “preferential option for the poor.”
7. 7) A deep concern was voiced over pension funding for priests and the pension plan change for lay employees in the Archdiocese.
8. 8) Finally, the well-publicized $1 million spent by the Archbishop on the marriage amendment political campaign has resulted in a widespread resentment and distrust of how Archdiocesan funds are spent, and a reluctance to support Archdiocesan financial appeals.

This is a due process issue for an organization based on voluntary financial support. As one person put it, “If we had transparency, accountability and accessibility in financial matters, it will help to rebuild the trust that was lostand squandered over the use of Archdiocesan funds for political causes and the problem of sexual abuse payouts….” Clearly, there is an opportunity here, as we say in the Mass, “…for our good and the good of all God’s church.”