Stewardship and Financial Managment
of the particular Church

The American Bishops acknowledge that all Bishops and Pastors have the “obligation to be models of stewardship in all aspects of [their] lives.” “Within the Church… it is important to avoid even the appearance of consumerism and luxury”, and this obligation begins with the Bishops. The first requirement of any steward is to be “found trustworthy.” (1 Cor. 4:2). “Stewardship is a uniquely solemn trust….stewards are fully conscious of their accountability.” As Archbishop Favalora of Miami acknowledges, “The breach of trust between the clergy and their people wounds the Body of the Church irreparably.”

This obligation extends to the Parishes:

Parishes, too, must be, or become, true communities of faith within which this Christian way of life is learned and practiced. Sound business practice is fundamental of good stewardship, and stewardship as it relates to church finances must include the most stringent ethical, legal, and fiscal standards. That requires several things: pastors and parish staff must be open, consultative, collegial, and accountable in the conduct of affairs. And parishioners must accept responsibility for their parishes and contribute generously – both money and personal service – to their programs and projects. The success or failure of parish programs, the vitality of parish life or its absence, the ability or inability of a parish to render needed services to its members and the community depend upon all.

“Sound business practice is fundamental of good stewardship, and stewardship as it relates to church finances must include the most stringent ethical, legal, and fiscal standards.” In that regard, Bishops, Pastors and their staffs “must be open, consultative, collegial, and accountable in the conduct of affairs.” The American Bishops require that “lay Catholics ought to have an active role in the oversight of the stewardship of the pastoral leaders and the administrators at the diocesan level.”

According to the Bishops, “Once one chooses to become a disciple of Jesus Christ, stewardship is not an option.” Stewardship is the personal responsibility of all baptized persons who collectively comprise the Body of Christ.

Pursuant to Canon Law 1267 §3, “Offerings given by the faithful for a specified purpose may be used only for that purpose.” To violate this constitutes a breach of trust that cannot be tolerated or excused.

Despite these guiding principles, mismanagement of funds donated by parishioners has been rampant among the clerical hierarchal structure of the American Catholic Church. Examples abound:

• Saint Maurice Parish in Dania Beach, Florida reportedly had more than $1.5 million taken from parish funds over a four year period. Approximately $800,000 of this amount was specifically designated for the Hunger Program.

• More than $800,000 was previously misappropriated from funds of Our Lady of Holy Rosary in Cutler Bay, Florida.

• More than $580,000 was paid on behalf of the Pastor of St. Richard Church in the Village of Palmetto Bay, Florida, without any prior consultation or approval of the parishioners, to purchase a four bedroom house for his personal use, despite a 3000 square foot residence already located on Church property that was occupied by his predecessors.

• The Archdiocese of Miami refuses to provide an audited report accounting for all of the receipts and expenditures related to the more than $76 million collected from the contributions given for Vision 2000; and where the published records of the Archdiocese of Miami issued as of November 30, 2004, fails to account for $24,092,829 of the amount collected.

• The Seattle Times reported:

An agreement by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange to pay $100 million to settle 87 sex-abuse claims against priests probably will set a standard that profoundly will affect hundreds of cases nationwide….The Vatican-approved deal will provide, on average, $1.1 million to each of the 87 alleged victims of sexual abuse — considerably more than most previous settlements of multiple priest sex-abuse claims. The previous record settlement came last year when the Archdiocese of Boston agreed to pay $85 million, divided among 552 victims. ... The amount of the Orange County settlement suggests that the Los Angeles archdiocese could face a bill of at least $500 million to resolve its litigation.

• Monsignor John Woolsey, 68, the former pastor of the Church of St. John the Martyr in New York, pled guilty to stealing more than $800,000 from his church. The Archdiocese in New York claims Woolsey actually stole $1.3 million.

• The former pastor of a Southwest Side Roman Catholic parish in Chicago was accused of looting more than $1 million from the church's collections, even stealing cash from raffles and funeral and wedding donations. The exact amount was unknown because he allegedly took the funds from the weekly collections before they were counted.

• The Fall River Diocese in Massachusetts filed a civil suit against a priest for $1.2 million, which includes $860,000 plus interest that diocese officials claim he misappropriated from his parish over several years.

• A Catholic priest in Illinois admittedly stole $226,000 from an Edwardsville church to support a gambling habit but was not prosecuted at the request of the local Bishop. The parishioners were baffled as to why the Bishop refused to prosecute.

• The longtime pastor of Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church in Rumson, New Jersey reportedly embezzled more than $800,000 in parish funds during the past three years. It is claimed he used the cash to fuel an extravagant lifestyle including “posh vacations, fancy cars and expensive meals.”

• Shortly before he died, the Pastor of a parish in Pennsylvania confessed to stealing an average of $1,000 per week from the collection over a 26- year period. The money was admittedly used to fund expensive items such as cars, guns, gambling trips, antiques, and a Florida condo.

• A former pastor of a parish in Rhode Island pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $120,000 from the weekly collections.

• “St. Mary of the Angels parishioners have learned that more than $1 million in church and school savings deposited to the consolidated account are gone” and “parents of students at St. Rose School are considering filing a class action lawsuit to demand the return of $1.4 million in building and operating funds.”

• An audit conducted by the parishioners at a parish near Cincinnati disclosed that the pastor had misappropriated almost $250,000 in parish funds for his personal use. The pastor retired.

• The pastor of a parish in Chicago is “alleged to have stolen more than $1.1 million from his parish's cash resources from 1999 until his resignation” in July, 2004.

• Two priests in Phoenix, Arizona “were arrested and indicted on charges that they skimmed about $160,000 from a Mesa parish's donations to pay for lavish furniture and travel…”

• The Associated Press reported on February 1, 2006, that “sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests has cost the U.S. church more than $1 billion since 1950.”

• “Portland’s Archbishop John G. Vlazny unexpectedly filed bankruptcy just hours before two sex-abuse trials were to begin, with the plaintiffs seeking a total of $155 million. The archdiocese had already paid $53 million to settle over 100 such claims.”

IS THIS HOW JESUS ENVISIONED THE EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS DONATED BY THE FAITHFUL?

Would these abuses have occurred had the appropriate procedures been in place to insure openness, truthfulness, and accountability?

The foregoing is not meant to suggest that all clerics mismanage the contributions, assets and other property entrusted to them. On the contrary, many bishops and priests seek to do what is right. Nevertheless, Lord Acton’s warning still holds true today: “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

SUGGESTED RECOMMENDATIONS:

A system that encourages and allows one person, or a select few, to have complete control of finances can only lead to abuse. To avoid this continued abuse, the People of God need to prayerfully reflect and consider new models of leadership and governance for our Church, especially as concerns the particular Church. In that regard, we offer the following recommendations with respect to managing the financial affairs of the particular Church:

1. Recognize that today’s laity are educated, trained, qualified and equipped to actively participate in the leadership, planning, decision making and management of the particular Church to fulfill the mission entrusted to it by Jesus;

2. Establish and enable each particular Church to be jointly managed and governed by a team composed of trained and qualified ordained and lay members whose divergent voices are heard, and who openly consult and collaborate under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to systematically plan, establish priorities, guidelines and goals consistent with the mission of the Church, and who lead by example in the implementation of these goals.

3. Vest responsibility for the management of the financial affairs of each particular Church, including accountability for the collection, safeguarding, reporting and expenditure of funds, the disposition of assets and the incurrence of liabilities, in a board composed of qualified and trained ordained and lay members who have equal voting rights, but who collaborate under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and seek to decide through consensus;

4. Provide annual audited reports of all receipts, expenditures, assets and liabilities of the Diocese and each Parish or their affiliated organizations;

5. Require each Parish to render quarterly accountings to the registered members detailing all receipts, expenditures, assets and liabilities of the Parish.

6. Permit all financial records of the Parish to be open for inspection at reasonable times by any registered Parishioner;

7. Permit all financial records of the Diocese to be available for inspection at reasonable times by representatives designated by a Parish;

We invite and encourage dialogue pertaining to the foregoing suggested solutions and recommendations.