Chicago Archdiocese is quietly using cemetery cash to pay priest sex abuse costs

[Cathoholic]

From the Chicago Sun Times . . . .

Chicago Archdiocese is quietly using cemetery cash to pay priest sex abuse costs​

Cardinal Blase Cupich | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file photo

By Robert Herguth

@RobertHerguth | email

For years, the Catholic Church in Chicago has said it enlists two revenue sources to pay for settlements and other costs related to priest sex abuse cases: loans and the sale of property.

But a Chicago Sun-Times examination found the church has been using money from its cemetery system to help pay down nagging debt related to sex misconduct — which at last count was more than $200 million — without telling the public.

A source with knowledge of the operations of the Archdiocese of Chicago, the arm of the church for Cook and Lake counties overseen by Cardinal Blase Cupich, said about $8 million a year has been shifted from the cemetery system to pay down that debt.

. . . church spokeswoman Paula Waters said in a statement:

“Investment earnings on cemeteries assets are used to help fund annual debt payments. . . .

Waters wouldn’t answer questions about the church’s debt and whether the church has been less than straightforward by failing to disclose this revenue stream until now. . . .

. . . In February, the Sun-Times reported that the archdiocese owes more than $200 million, mostly related to sex abuse claims, and could face another $100 million or more in costs for pending and future sexual misconduct claims.

The entrance to Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery & Mausoleums in Hillside | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

. . . . At the time, the church was in the process of selling the surface parking lot at Holy Name Cathedral in the North Loop that was going to be the site of two high-rises. The archdiocese was expected to reap $100 million or more, most or all of it going to pay down sex abuse debt, the Sun-Times reported. . . .

Chicago Archdiocese is quietly using cemetery cash to pay priest sex abuse costs

About $8 million a year has been shifted from the cemetery system to pay down that debt, according to a source familiar with church operations.

chicago.suntimes.com

 

[Hoosier-Daddy]

This is why I cannot tithe. At all. Ever.

 

[Cathoholic]

The reason I tithe is to help me assert that Jesus is the Lord of my money.

I tithe for me (my wife and I do it for us).

Hoosier-Daddy.

This is why I cannot tithe. At all. Ever.

I understand where you might be coming from on this Hoosier-Daddy.

But you can still tithe in other ways to support the Catholic faith. (Maybe that is what you meant?)

Some people do that.

Some people pay their Bishops AND send parts of their tithes elsewhere.

Some people have sent part of their tithe to a diocese they perceive as supportive to the Catholic faith and witheld any monies from their own dioceses.

Some people spend ALL of their tithe to non-diocesan but very Catholic sources.

Catholic Answers is a reasonable way to send out (at least part of) your tithe and not support this kind of money issue that is in the article. (Full disclosure: I do not work for Catholic Answers.)

There are some real “characters” who have been planted in various positions of power in many ways in society.

But in principle, you can still tithe.

 

[Hoosier-Daddy]

Right. I just meant in my parish and diocese. I support catholic programs monetarily and my parish and diocese with time and talent. But giving money with no accountability? Nope not in these times.

 

[Cathoholic]

Hoosier-Daddy . . .

Right. I just meant in my parish and diocese. I support catholic programs monetarily and my parish and diocese with time and talent.

That’s exactly what I would have figured for you Hoosier-Daddy.

As far as I can tell, you are an exemplary, happily contagious, devout, Catholic Christian.

 

[Johann_du_Toit]

Fr. Dwight Longenecker stated that the faithful can withold funds if they are being misused by their Bishop, but they would still have a duty to redirect said funds elsewhere. And they would still have to support their Parish, even if they specifically request that none of their donations go to the diocese until concerns about transparency are addressed.

Regina Magazine and the Lepanto Institute have a list of faithful Catholic institutions to support (such as the St Gregory the Great Seminary in Omaha, Nebraska, the Benedictine Monastery in Nursia, or the Pontifical University of st Thomas Aquinas in Rome, as well as several dozen charities and pro-life groups).

 

[Joe_5859]

The article says the Diocese had listed two revenue stream: loans and sale of property.

Well, those loans have to get paid down somehow. It doesn’t really seem nefarious to me that they would use investment earnings from cemeteries to pay those bills. Where else is the money going to come from?

The money is going to victims of abuse, not perpetrators of abuse. Yes, it is truly scandalous and horrific that there are victims of abuse at the hands of clergy, but that is where things are at sadly.

 

[Cathoholic]

Joe_5859 . . .

Well, those loans have to get paid down somehow. It doesn’t really seem nefarious to me that they would use investment earnings from cemeteries to pay those bills. Where else is the money going to come from?

That is correct. Money is fungible.

So the Dioceses should NOT be fundraising by saying things like . . .

. . . “Every penny of THIS donation, goes to the elderly priest apartment renovation fund” or “this or that land management scheme built to protect the Diocese from future financial raids by future victims of homosexual clerical abuse (or heterosexual abuse)”, or whatever.

And explain they need to take your parking lot, and sell it for the bills they have accrued. (“And now you may have to walk several blocks on Sunday to go to Mass because we no longer have the parking lot your great grandparents bought us collectively. And your grandchildren may not be able to be buried here either because in the years to come, we MAY be selling off PART of the grave land that they purchased for us too. So we will replace the graves with MULTI mini “mausoleums” where you can put your kids ashes instead”).

The parking lot issue, was in the story above.

This is almost certainly WHY the Diocesan financial spokeswoman (Paula Waters) would NOT comment when directly asked by the Chicago Sun (also in the story above). Because she could see where the questioning was headed.

Waters wouldn’t answer questions about the church’s debt and whether the church has been less than straightforward by failing to disclose this revenue stream until now. . . .

The Bishops should just be open and honest with the people when they fundraise and say . . . .

“We have enormous legal fees and victim pay out costs due to the sexual deviants that we ordained, then moved around.”

But THAT is NOT going to bolster the
"Annual Diocesan Appeal" is it?

 

[Cathoholic]

(name removed by moderator) . . .

I give to my Church Parish, I give to my Diocese and I let God sort out the small details.

That is a call you have to make (name removed by moderator).
I would not presume to affirm you or deny you in this sphere.

Just reporting the news and some of the “whys” associated with this news.

 

[MikeInVA]

If I were to buy a plot in a cemetery I would assume that the money would be used to maintain the plot and the cemetery, not pay for the clergy’s misdeeds.

 

[Cathoholic]

MikeInVa . . .

If I were to buy a plot in a cemetery I would assume that the money would be used to maintain the plot and the cemetery, not pay for the clergy’s misdeeds.

Especially if there is an ongoing “Cemetary Fundraiser” after buying your plot and all the rhetorical feelings-based fundraising that could occur.

You can just imagine points about how this money is being used to maintain the beauty of the cemetary.

How not a dime of this goes elsewhere.

Maybe some talk about the need to take care of grandma and grandpa?

Who knows?

But whatever it is, the optics does not lend itself to sending in any more of your hard earned money.

Unless people wanted to pay up for the whole package (admittedly, some people don’t seem to mind being urged to pay-up for the acting out behavior of some sexual deviant people who have taken up residence within the Catholic Clergy).

The whole package includes potential things on a national scale such as (but not limited to) the
homosexual abuse crisis,
hush money for the victims (like we saw with Mr. Theodore McCarrick),
and the legal nuclear fallout
and the need to fork out Big Bucks to attorneys
we needed to retain.

But that does not market well. Even when it is transparent.

 

[Zzyzx_Road]

Chicago isn’t the only archdiocese to use cemetery funds to pay settlements. I won’t drop names, but I seem to recall this has been done elsewhere.

I agree about being specific where the cash goes. Parish gets mine, so far as I can tell there haven’t been any issues there. But all parishes are required to siphon off something for the diocese they’re in. Or put something into the retired priests fund. Well now that is a judgement call. One might ask how has my diocese (or archdiocese) handled itself and act accordingly.

 

[Hoosier-Daddy]

The problem is not that there is money going to victims. The problem is that the Church enters into deals with this money and fundraisers while keeping it secret. Telling people about a general appeal or fund used to help retired priests, or in this case cemetery funds or property is odd. transparency is king now. And I for one think every single diocese should be audited by an outside firm. Follow the money and you will find the corruption.

 

[c1949]

There is scandal upon scandal. The bishops are so corrupt. And, it goes hardly without saying that the bishops enjoy the “first fruits” of ALL donations to the Church.

Perhaps the settlements with abuse victims ALSO bind the bishops to silence, so there is a legal pretext for their silence. Those non-disclosure agreements thus work both ways. THAT’S why the bishops are so quiet.

The Holy Father could solve all these problems before lunch today and then take a good afternoon nap. But, he doesn’t, and to all outward appearances he has no intention of doing so. While trying to not throw thousands of priests and bishops under the bus, that’s where his reputation and legacy are headed, along with the money of many, many people. State laws in Michigan designed to protect public or commercial cemetery funds do not apply to Church cemeteries.

This has a quadruple negative effect on evangelization. When people get slapped in the face by the Church, treated like vomit, the results are predictable.

 

[Joe_5859]

The bishops are so corrupt. And, it goes hardly without saying that the bishops enjoy the “first fruits” of ALL donations to the Church.

While there have certainly been too many corrupt bishops, it is unfair to make such blanket assertions. Not every bishop is corrupt, nor are they all guilty of financial malfeasance. I know a bishop who would take all the money he received from stipends and use it for charitable endeavors throughout the diocese.

Painting them all with the same broad brush is not fair nor accurate.

 

[c1949]

My statement is a generalization, of course. Over and over we’re finding just more and more corruption and/or malfeasance. OR, I suppose the next question, is this bishop you refer to silent about all the problems and scandals? The problems go back YEARS, what about his predecessors? Is he covering up for them? These days, these are fair questions.