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	NE Ohio Catholics' Giving Sets Record High By David Briggs Plain Dealer April 3, 2008 http://www.cleveland.com/living/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living-0/1207211480124580.xml&coll=2 Northeast Ohio Catholics are filling up the collection basket again as time and church reforms appear to be healing old wounds from the clergy sex-abuse scandal. More than five years after the scandal shook the church, offertory giving last year reached a record high in the Cleveland Catholic Diocese. Parishioners gave $109 million, an almost 3 percent increase, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007. The $2.9 million jump was more than double the increase of the previous year, the diocese said in its latest financial report. Chief Financial Officer John Maimone on Wednesday praised the "modest improvement" in diocesan finances. But he said the church still faces long-term financial concerns, including a $24 million deficit in parochial grade-school budgets. Maimone declined to say whether the numbers indicated Catholics were putting the abuse scandal behind them. Other observers, however, said the rebound in giving is part of a national trend. Doris Donnelly, director of The Cardinal Suenens Center in Theology and Church Life at John Carroll University, said the turnaround seems to reflect an increase in philanthropy and the sense that many Catholics have decided the church is getting its act together in responding to sexual abuse. Dioceses such as Cleveland now have independent lay review boards and policies to prevent abuse and address the concerns of victims. Sociologist Dean Hoge of Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., said national research shows that the initial outrage of people in the pews has turned so mild that "you can hardly see any effect. "We're back to normal," he said. "I think it's just out of mind." In spring 2002, some Catholics nationwide cut back on their giving when the scope of clergy sexual abuse of minors became clear. In the Cleveland diocese, offertory giving fell nearly $3 million in one year, from $106 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2002, to $103.3 million the following year. Giving did not return to $106 million until the 2005-2006 fiscal year. The $2.9 million jump in giving last year helped reduce by a third, from 45 percent to 30 percent, the percentage of the 229 parishes operating in the red last year compared to 2006. Budget cutbacks and increases in investment income also contributed to the improved finances, Maimone said. But parochial grade schools are stretching church budgets, with some parishes draining their savings, the diocese said. "This can only continue for so long before the school must close," Maimone said in his report. To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: dbriggs@plaind.com, 216-999-4812.
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