House of Paine

arch dialysis

  if bentham were pope 


     that's the one i wanta dream about
 but at any rate

 here's some further adventures 
           in gothic transparency 
   
      recently published 
          here to fore unseen   numbers
              on boston's 
            local franchise  
                  of 
      the  christian world's leading npo /ngo


====================================


" boston's Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley 
is pledging to cut spending, 
improve fund-raising,
and balance the church's budget
 within 18 months,
 as he attempts to strengthen 
a storied archdiocese 
financially hobbled 
by years of scandal and debt"

"Saying he was seeking 
to rebuild trust by disclosing information
, O'Malley released a torrent
 of financial data yesterday
 that the archdiocese believes
 is the most ever disclosed 
by any Catholic diocese in history"

" And he pledged 
full financial transparency
 on an ongoing basis"

 "for the archdiocese,
 its 303 parishes,
and dozens of related 
Catholic organizations"

The multiple reports released yesterday
 reveal the stunning breadth 
of the Archdiocese of Boston,
 which claims nearly 2 million adherents
 in 144 communities.

 The archdiocese owns 1,500 buildings
 in Eastern Massachusetts,
 with an estimated replacement value 
of $2.8 billion; 

it employs 3,000 people
 and oversees hundreds of parishes
, schools, cemeteries, hospitals,
 and social service organizations.

The archdiocese and its parishes 
have $330 million in assets,
 but officials said financial restrictions
 and debt total $376 million,
 resulting in a $46 million gap.

 Despite having laid off 
dozens of employees 
and stabilizing fund-raising
 in the last several years,
 the archdiocese is also running
 an annual operating deficit,
 and it faces serious ongoing problems
 from diminished attendance at Masses,
 decreased school enrollment,
 a shortage of priests and nuns,
 and massive building maintenance costs.

 The measures announced yesterday 
are mainly aimed at addressing 
the annual operating deficit.

''The motivation for the transparency 
is to help people feel
 a part of the archdiocese," O'Malley told
 a packed news conference at St. John's Seminary
 in Brighton.
 ''We're not trying to keep secrets from people.
 We're not trying to deceive them.
 We're trying to use the limited resources
 we have for the mission of the church."



"O'Malley released audited financial reports
 for the last two fiscal years.
 He also released data
 on what he called the entire history 
of the archdiocese's spending 
related to clergy sexual abuse,
 an explanation of the archdiocese's
 organizational structure,
 and about 1,000 pages 
of audited financial reports 
for all but seven 
of its associated organizations".

--------the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations
 at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government-------------


council of parishes and the  Voice of the Faithful 

"a cascade of crises emerged
 in the church over four years ago."

"regain the trust of the people in the pews."

"require every parish 
to release financial reports annually "


" overall, parish collections are falling".

"The report cites examples
 without naming churches:
 Some parishes attract
 as few as 100 people weekly 
and take in as little as $60,000 annually
 in collections,
 while others draw more than 3,000 
and generate $1.5 million a year.

 One parish has $6.9 million in the bank, 
while another is $5 million in debt"



"the archdiocese's central administration
 is still projected to spend $7.8 million 
more than it is taking in
 during the current fiscal year"

"many cuts in personnel and programs are expected"

O'Malley, cloaked in the brown hooded habit
 that distinguishes him as a Capuchin friar
 and the red zucchetto that signifies 
his status as a cardinal...."

 "The archdiocese plans to cut
 about 50 of about 500 positions 
in central administration,
 and about $4.5 million 
in other spending next year. 
It also plans to reduce the size
 of the cardinal's Cabinet,
 from 12 people to eight, 
and to regionalize 
the delivery of many services "




 ''While we do have liquidity,
 we have little left to sell,
 and we are faced with substantial obligations."



" the Legislature, 
 debated a law that would have required 
financial disclosure by religious organizations"

" The bill was defeated 
only after Protestant churches 
and other non-Catholic groups 
launched a massive lobbying effort
 against it"

" Many Protestant denominations 
already fully disclose their finances
 and allow laypeople to vote on their budgets"

 "2004  re configuration effort 
             resulted
 in the closing of 62 of 357 parishes"




" He is planning this year to replace
 all of the archdiocese's top financial officials 
-- Chancellor David W. Smith is retiring in July;
 the development director, Kenneth J. Hokenson, 
is resigning at an unspecified time;
 and Vicar General Bishop Richard G. Lennon
 is being installed as bishop of Cleveland in May ".

"O'Malley has turned increasingly 
to lay businesspeople 
to help him plot the church's financial recovery"

The transparency project was led by McCarthy, and 

"the archdiocese's effort to develop a strategic plan 
for the future 
is being overseen by James F. O'Connor,
 managing director and CEO 
of The Chartwell Company, a private bank.
 Jack Connors Jr., the chairman and cofounder
 of the advertising firm Hill Holliday, 
is overseeing an effort to restructure 
the parochial school system, 
while Neal Finnegan,
 director of Citizens Financial Capital Inc.
, is heading the search
 for a new archdiocesan chancellor"

.
 
.