MASSACHUSETTS
Telegram & Gazette
Posted Jan. 23, 2016
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester reported a total operating deficit of almost $1.2 million in a financial statement released Thursday after an audit of its fiscal 2015 financial activities.
The operating shortfall was after diocese expenses totaling $25,178,740 for the fiscal year. In the 2014 fiscal year, there was a surplus of nearly $1.2 million. The financial report was exclusively of diocesan operations and did not reflect the financial operations of the parishes.
In a letter, Bishop Robert J. McManus said the diocese was challenged on a number of financial fronts, including $840,001 in unrealized losses on investments. Those losses, however, are “primarily a reflection of the state of the market when our year ended on August 31,” he wrote.
Central administration departments and Partners in Charity agencies operated within their budgets, thanks in part to shared management and other cost-cutting measures in force for years to avoid unnecessary expenditures, the bishop said.
Shortfalls were experienced in the areas of Central Catholic Schools, St. John Cemetery System, interest payments on the line of credit held by the Diocesan Expansion Fund and the Catholic Free Press newspaper, which required a “subsidy” of $145,522 primarily because of uncollected receivables from the parishes.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.