Writing in today's Boston Globe (11/28/07), Thomas J. Healey, treasurer of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management gives the Archdiocese of Boston high marks for its programmed efforts at financial transparency.
When the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston advanced the cause of financial transparency last year by releasing volumes of once-tightly kept information, it was an extraordinary step for the entire US Catholic Church. At the same time it was facing up to its own mounting fiscal problems brought on by the sexual abuse crisis, the archdiocese was sending a signal to the rest of the church that a new era is dawning in terms of responsible financial stewardship and accountability...
If there's a silver lining in all this, it's that financial distress is opening the door to uncommon opportunities for those dioceses and parishes willing to improve management of their temporal affairs. This means embracing the principles of not just financial transparency, but of effective long-range planning, enlightened fund-raising, personnel empowerment, and diocesan-wide economies of scale.
No better example exists than the Financial Transparency Project of the Archdiocese of Boston, singled out last year by the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management for its inaugural Best Practices Award.
Determined to put an end to the secrecy of the past, the archdiocese made an unprecedented commitment to openness, including the release of comprehensive financial statements and sexual abuse settlement information, and a look inside the organization of the archdiocese. The Financial Transparency Project delivered on that commitment, and its groundbreaking work can be seen online (www.rcab.org) in the form of a full disclosure report on the financial condition of the Archdiocese of Boston. One of the tools used for this objective review is a management discussion and analysis, the same reporting vehicle used in 10K reports for public companies...
(Read the complete article here)
- Thomas J. Healey, a retired partner of
I think this is excellent. There was another article recently in the Globe and in this past week's The Pilot about the Commission appointed by Cardinal Sean to monitor and report on the financial aspects of the parish closings. Part of the report was critical of the Commission's treatment by the former Vicar General and former Chancellor. Cardinal Sean had promised David Castaldi, Chair of the Commission, that the report could be completely transparent. And it was. The Boston Archdiocese is becoming a model for financial transparency that should be emulated by all U.S. dioceses. I hope the other U.S. bishops are paying attention and will follow suit.
ReplyDeleteCardinal O'Malley deserves credit for releasing the financial information, but let's not get too carried away.
ReplyDeleteMr. Healey neglects to mention that last year the RCAB lobbied against Senator Marian Walsh's bill to require all charities (including religious organizations) to publicly issue basic financial information each year.
He also neglects to mention that the public financial disclosure does not include any statements on what happened to the funds collected on Easter and Christmas for 16 years while Cardinal Law was in charge. These funds were supposed to go to the priests' retirement fund. That did not happen and the retirement fund is now under-funded by millions of dollars.
He also neglects to mention that funds from the sale of the assets from reconfigured parishes were used for the ongoing operating expenses of the RCAB, despite a promise by Cardinal O'Malley not to do so. Reconfiguration funds were also used to repay loans made by the RCAB to parishes who defaulted on those loans.
Finally, he does not mention David Castaldi's criticism of the RCAB's prior administrators for blocking access to certain financial information. Also, Mr. Castaldi complained that his committee had limited power and (as usual) was advisory only. I call that the illusion of inclusion.
Certainly Cardinal O'Malley has taken the first step. But there is much work that needs to be done before we celebrate financial transparency in the RCAB.