BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff | April 20, 2006
Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley is pledging to cut spending, improve fund-raising, and balance the church's budget within 18 months, as he attempts to strengthen a storied archdiocese financially hobbled by years of scandal and debt.
Saying he was seeking to rebuild trust by disclosing information, O'Malley released a torrent of financial data yesterday that the archdiocese believes is the most ever disclosed by any Catholic diocese in history. And he pledged full financial transparency on an ongoing basis -- continually updated data on the Internet and annual financial reports about the archdiocese, its 303 parishes, and dozens of related Catholic organizations.
The multiple reports released yesterday reveal the stunning breadth of the Archdiocese of Boston, which claims nearly 2 million adherents in 144 communities. The archdiocese owns 1,500 buildings in Eastern Massachusetts, with an estimated replacement value of $2.8 billion; it employs 3,000 people and oversees