Gallup Diocese Chief Financial Officer Resigns

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Gallup Independent
May 10, 2013

http://www.gallupindependent.com/Independent/Index.html

Roman Catholic Bishop James S. Wall made a dual-purpose public announcement late Friday. In an email sent to the media 5 p.m. Friday, Wall announced the departure of a top chancery official while also advertising for his replacement.

James P. Hoy, an ordained deacon in the Diocese of Gallup, is resigning as the diocese’s chief financial officer after 14 years, Wall said. Hoy is slated to depart June 30.

“He is leaving the diocese to take a financial position in the non-profit sector and to be with his wife who as (sic) been on a temporary assignment with Western New Mexico University in Silver City, New Mexico,” Wall said. “We are grateful to Deacon Hoy for his dedication and service to the Church and to those that he has helped over the years.”

Wall said the diocese will begin its search for a new CFO immediately, and officials hope to have the position filled by July 1 on either a permanent or pro tem basis.

Wall’s email included an online link to the Diocese of Gallup’s employment opportunities page, which features a summary of the job requirements. That page contains another link to a more detailed job description.

According to the job description, the CFO position is “an ecclesiastical office” with qualifications and duties established in the Catholic Church’s 1983 Code of Canon Law. It includes responsibility for the Gallup Diocese’s budgeting, accounting, investments, risk management, human resources and employee benefits.

In addition to being an “active practicing Roman Catholic in full communion with the Church,” applicants must have at least a bachelor’s degree in finance or accounting and 10 years of professional experience. They will need to be able to oversee grant applications, review legal documents and interact with diocesan attorneys.

Since Wall became bishop four years ago, he has declined multiple media requests to confirm the level of Hoy’s educational training and professional experience for the CFO position. During the past decade, numerous priests have raised concerns with chancery officials and the media about Hoy’s qualifications. All media questions about Hoy’s qualifications — in personal interviews with the bishop and through written requests — have been ignored by Wall and Hoy.

Hoy was initially hired by the late Bishop Donald E. Pelotte. According to the Official Catholic Directory, Hoy became a deacon in 1996 while living in Show Low, Ariz. He then moved to Gallup to take over the diocesan budget and finance office.

Hoy’s successor will be employed by a diocese that advertizes itself as one of the poorest Catholic dioceses in the country. In addition, the Gallup Diocese continues to incur unpublicized financial expenses related to settlement money and legal fees from clergy sex abuse lawsuits and an unknown number of out-of-court sex abuse complaints.