Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis Announces Budget Cuts

By Mitch Keegan
KEYC
November 10, 2014

http://www.keyc.com/story/27341106/archdiocese-of-st-paul-and-minneapolis-announces-budget-cuts

The central office of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is planning to cut its budget by 20 percent, including unspecified staff reductions.

The archdiocese issued a statement Saturday saying the cuts will exceed $5 million. Vicar General Charles Lachowitzer says budgets and staff have grown over the past several years and need to be cut back.

The statement did not cite the archdiocese's recent settlement with victims of clerical sexual misconduct. But it said that even without ``unanticipated legal and other outside professional fees,'' the operational budget was unsustainable.

Whistleblower Jennifer Haselberger says she thinks the cuts are less a consequence of the settlement than of declining contributions from parishioners who object to how the archdiocese has handled the clergy misconduct crisis.