Cleveland Catholic Diocese Shares Financial Report on Closed Parishes (video)
By Dave Davis
Money largely followed parishioners to their newly merged churches or to churches assigned the territory of the closed parishes, according to the diocese. But in cases where significant groups of people could not be tracked to a new parish, the money was contributed to the diocese's Parish Assistance Fund to help any of the remaining 174 parishes with financial hardships or emergencies. That fund now has $1.3 million. While about a dozen parishes continue to struggle financially, Cleveland Bishop Richard Lennon told reporters on Monday he has no plans for additional closings. Lennon offered the community the financial update in the wake of the reconfiguration that closed and merged parishes throughout the diocese. The bishop said the diocese is in much stronger financial shape after he closed 50 churches in 2009 and 2010, a a task he said resulted in "a stronger community and more vibrant parish and Catholic life," but one that was more emotionally difficult than he had anticipated. He said he believed some of the criticism directed at him was unfair. "I was hoping it would go a little better as people were actually involved (in the process) for 18 to 24 months," Lennon added at the press conference at Lakewood's former St. Hedwig Catholic Church, one of the closed parishes that is now a museum where statues and relics from the closed parishes are restored and displayed. "Ultimately, it's not about church buildings," Lennon said. "It's about our relationship with God." So far, the proceeds from closed parishes include $10.1 million in cash and assets, $7.6 million from the sale of parish properties, and $1.8 million from miscellaneous sources such as the sale of religious items and rental income. "Parish money is just that - parish money," said James Gulick, the diocese's finance director. "You'll see in our report that once the debts and expenses of the closed parishes are addressed, the money left over is reinvested in existing parishes." He said the details could be found online on the diocese's website. In terms of payouts, $4.9 million of the proceeds have gone toward the expenses and debts of the parishes that were closed; $7.8 million has been distributed to 25 parishes, charitable causes and the assistance fund; and $6.8 million is being held by the diocese to cover expenses for properties still for sale, the diocese said. After the sale and the settling of any remaining parish obligations, officials said, the money left is to be distributed to open parishes and the assistance fund.
Pat Singleton, head of Endangered Catholics, a group critical of the church closings, said that in some cases relating to debts and expenses it appears that the diocese is "really paying itself back." (For example, she said some parishes' debt was for diocesan assessments, a percentage on weekly parish collections.) Singleton said she couldn't find exact numbers on those debts in the parish-by-parish reports on Monday. The diocese said that through Sept. 30, its general fund was paid $225,000 for loans made to parishes and $391,000 for past-due assessments. Singleton was a member of the now closed St. Patrick Catholic Church in West Park, one of 14 that have appealed their closure to the Vatican. The assets and property of those parishes have remained intact pending the outcome of the appeals. "I'm glad the report came out, but I think it needs to be a little more specific," Singleton said.
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