HELENA -- An approved plan to exit bankruptcy doesn’t mean the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena is on solid financial footing just yet, according to Chief Financial Officer Jim Carney.

“It’s going to be a long, slow road to recovery,” he said.

The Diocese of Helena, which oversees more than 60 parishes and 35 missions across western Montana, has been weighed down by debt said to be nearly double its assets since allegations of sexual abuse began to surface years ago. In January 2014, the diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, making it one of nearly a dozen dioceses to do so over the last decade.

A federal bankruptcy judge approved the diocese’s plan in early March to compensate more than 360 alleged sexual abuse victims.

The diocese paid $2.6 million; its insurance company paid $14.4 million; and the Ursuline Sisters of the Western Province, who were also part of the lawsuit, paid $4.45 million.

The plan also set aside $900,000 to compensate anyone who comes forward in the future with claims of sexual abuse that occurred before January 2014.

“In that sense, we’re doing well,” Carney said. On the other side, he said the lawsuit has left the diocese with very few unrestricted assets.

Part of the plan included the diocese selling its Legendary Lodge camp on Salmon Lake for $3.585 million to the Foundation for the Diocese of Helena. Carney said the foundation agreed to let the diocese continue using the lodge for summer camps.

Though parishes were not asked to contribute directly to the settlement, some cuts have trickled down to affect parish operations.

Between October 2013 and the end of January 2014, roughly 50 percent of chancery staff were laid off. For every employee cut, services to parishes were impacted.

Diocese spokesman Dan Bartleson said the needs of each parish are unique, but he knows Bishop George Thomas has been working with parishes that have needs or projects underway.

“Certainly it’s very challenging,” Bartleson said.

Parish employees have also been affected by diocese cutbacks starting in early 2014.

Salaries for parish employees were frozen and remain frozen at least through June 30, the end of the diocesan fiscal year. At that time, each parish will be able to assess its finances and make decisions regarding raises and hirings with guidance from the diocese.

“We don’t want to create inequities within parishes,” Carney said.

Retirement for parish employees also went down from an automatic contribution of 6 percent of an individual’s salary to a 3 percent contribution that required a match from the employee. Those same employees have dental and health insurance through the diocese but must now purchase their insurance on the open market.

Carney said priests of each parish are also purchasing their insurance on the exchange and are subject to pay freezes, but they are on a different pay scale and have a pension retirement plan.

“That’s just the way it’s always been,” he said.

Financial struggles also resulted in millions of dollars lost by parishes who deposited funds into the deposit loan fund, which essentially served as an internal bank. Carney said a trust was created to repay those deposits, though no timeline exists.

The first step in recovering from these losses will be to ensure the chancery and all the parishes are “in the black,” or bringing in profits rather than making cuts to meet a balanced budget, Carney said.

He said the diocese is making an effort to be transparent about its financial standings to eliminate any mystery surrounding operations. Though nothing is official, Carney said the diocese will probably run another campaign to bring in funds, and with financial transparency, the hope is that people will see where funds are being used and begin to re-engage the diocese as donors.

Bartleson said clarity has been a goal since early in the process.

“Bishop Thomas made that decision early on. He had some experiences, some other experiences of seeing what happens when the church kind of digs in and litigation ensues. And he related to me that -- conciliation is how he put it -- conciliation should be the approach of the church when harm has been done,” Bartleson said.

That reconciliation led to a smoother-than-average litigation process.

Some of the non-monetary pieces of the agreement have yet to be finalized, including a list of priests known to have abused victims, which Bartleson said is tentatively scheduled to be released by the end of April. He said some of the names are already on the Diocese of Helena webpage, among many documents relating to the settlement.

Carney said the take-home message is that the diocese is still “operating under the (current) method and kind of the bare-bones staff, at least at the chancery level, as we rebuild.”

“I am hopeful for that growth and rebuilding the diocese,” he added. “It’s just going to take time.”