Retirement Expenses Prove Costly to Diocese

By Bronislaus B. Kush
Telegram & Gazette
January 16, 2014

http://www.telegram.com/article/20140116/NEWS/301169638/1116

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester yielded an operating surplus of $122,418 during last fiscal year, the chancery reported Thursday.

Officials said the financial numbers for the fiscal year that ended Aug. 31 reflect a trend, over the past several years, in which the local church's overall financial ledger has come close to being balanced.

"In some of those years, we've had slight surpluses, in others slight losses," said Vice Chancellor of Operations Raymond L Delisle.

The nearly balanced budget resulted from about $1.28 million worth of cuts in expenses across all departments and agencies. Chancery officials applauded the "tight financial controls" that managers have been using to keep costs down.

Bishop Robert J. McManus said the diocese's annual audit, which was done by O'Connor, Maloney & Co. of Worcester, showed that church officials were being "good stewards" of the donations being made.

He said the diocesan investment portfolio showed positive results.

The diocese, in fiscal 2012, reported a surplus of $109,804 after expenses totaling $26.04 million.

As they did last year, chancery administrators expressed concern about the need to pay the diocese's debts and the continuing costs associated with supporting retired priests.

For example, debt service cost the diocesan Central Administration account $994,797. That debt resulted from parishes being unable to pay their loans.

Bishop McManus said he believes a new accounting system he began using last spring, which parishes are mandated to follow, should cut down on debt service expenses.

Meanwhile, clergy retirement programs operated at a loss of $715,325. That number figures in an $865,000 subsidy from Partners in Charity, the annual gift-giving campaign that operates 30 agencies, ministries, and program such as Catholic Charities.

Despite the costs, church officials said they were still pleased with the retirement programs because they cost about 2 percent less than last year.

There are about 50 retired priests. Mr. Delisle said it's not the number of retired priests that's causing the shortfall. Rather, it's the costs of the nursing or specialized care that some of those clerics need.

Financial problems also continued to plague The Catholic Free Press, the diocese's weekly newspaper.

The broadsheet lost $119,147, about $23,000 more than last year.

Mr. Delisle said that despite the financial difficulty of running the newspaper, there are no plans to close it.

He said Bishop McManus believes the Free Press is "an investment" in providing information to the local Catholic community.

There were also difficulties paying to operate St. John's Cemetery. At the end of the fiscal year, the account was balanced, but that's because of the infusion of $119,098 from Partners in Charity.

Unlike other dioceses, where many schools are being closed, the local church's parochial school system was generally in good shape.

The schools netted about $146,000 in revenues over expenses, after figuring out depreciation costs and non-operational funding. There are 1,623 students attending local parochial schools.

Church officials said they were also pleased with the Diocesan Expansion Fund, which provides low-interest loans to parishes. After allowing for unrealized losses, the fund netted $215,700.

It's estimated that about 110,000 area households are directly affected by programs funded by the diocesan budget.

"Why do we provide all these ministries and programs to so many people?" said Bishop McManus. "It is what it means to be Catholic."

There is no formal diocesan budget.

Rather, diocesan officials put together a compartmentalized financial report, with each section providing information, including revenues and expenses, on a particular department or agency.