PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
David O’Reilly, Inquirer Staff Writer POSTED: Sunday, July 14, 2013
Despite long-term debt of $350 million, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has no plans to seek bankruptcy protection, its chief financial officer said.
The church is committed instead to bringing its annual operating expenses into balance within a few years, CFO Tim O’Shaughnessy said in an interview, and will sell off real estate to bring down its long-term debt.
Earlier this month Archbishop Charles J. Chaput pulled aside the curtain that his predecessors had kept around church finances for decades. The archdiocese had incurred a $39 million deficit for fiscal year 2012, he revealed, and was carrying hundreds of millions of dollars in long-term debt.
In a wide range of interviews with church insiders and parishioners, many applauded the archdiocese’s newfound transparency, but one church finance expert offered very stern words for recent cardinals’ handling of church funds that has led to the financial crisis.
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