SCRANTON (PA)
Times Leader
By MARK GUYDISH
mguydish@leader.net
While announcing deep administrative budget cuts recently, the Diocese of Scranton noted that fewer churches are meeting goals in a key fund drive: the Diocesan Annual Appeal. Officials also insisted the financial crunch is not because of the priest scandals plaguing the church locally and nationally.
A deeper look shows that, although individual parishes have missed goals, the diocese overall still consistently meets its mark.
Money from the Appeal pays for a variety of diocesewide services, including the newspaper and television stations, schools, support for retired clergy, and social services. Diocese Spokesman Bill Genello said the goal has risen each year, from $3.5 million in 1999 to this year’s $4.4 million. As the overall goal goes up, so do the goals for each parish.
According to the June 23 issue of the diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Light – which, because of budget cuts, will be published every three weeks instead of every two – 66 percent of parishes in the 11-county diocese met their goals in 1999; 41 percent did so this year.
But that’s an incomplete picture. Genello said that although fewer parishes meet individual goals, the overall goal has been exceeded each year since 1999. This year, the diocese topped the goal by at least $23,000. Genello added, however, that this year’s Appeal actually raised about $62,000 less than last year’s.
Genello said it’s difficult for the diocese to know if the sex scandals have caused a decline in appeal donations, but added that anecdotal evidence suggests that’s not the case.