CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
May 27, 2005
BY SHAMUS TOOMEY Staff Reporter
For the first time in 14 years, the Archdiocese of Chicago is laying off workers at its downtown headquarters as it fights to close an ongoing, multimillion-dollar budget deficit.
Church officials said Thursday that 40 positions will be cut by July at the pastoral center on East Superior, which is home to about 600 employees. Some of the jobs will be erased through early retirements and attrition, but the remainder will be layoffs, officials said.
It's all part of the ongoing struggle facing the local Catholic church, which has had to ship millions of dollars to struggling parishes to keep them afloat, depleting the budget of its pastoral center.
The financial woes have been exacerbated by legal claims paid out to victims of sexual abuse by priests, including the $18.2 million paid to settle claims in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2004. But church officials said the budget woes surfaced before the claims were paid, and the abuse settlements are not the predominant reason for the struggles.
Posted by kshaw at May 27, 2005 06:22 AM