Where is the truth is All this?

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maciejk60

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Do Roman Catholic Diocese print their own money? Or am I missing something?

Recently we have been hearing that several Diocese around the country have been settling the pedophilia law suits for 100’s of million of dollars. But they say that they are not using money form the local Parish collections to pay for the settlements. If not, where is the money coming from? Yes, I understand that they have insurance policies. These policies typically pay about half. But where does the other half come from?

I have heard the Public relations statements like “we will sell off Diocesan assets to cover their portion”. Yes I know that the deeds are in the name of the Bishop, but how did he acquire these properties? Did he print his own money? Or did he initially use funds from the Parish collections as down payments? Then add the mortgages to the annual operating cost of the Diocese and pay that with funds from the Parishes.

Where will the money come from to pay for the increase in insurance premiums? Is it like auto insurance? The premium stays the same until you have an accident and then the rates go through the roof. $100 million is a pretty high roof!!!

I have read the Diocese of LA is going to sell off much of their real estate and lease it back. Will they add those lease payments to the annual operating cost? If so, do they not consider the Parishes paying for those expenses?

Where is the truth is all this? Or is this just another cover up? It seems to me if we do not have changes made at the top it will be the same old song, played to a different tune!
 
maciejk60 said:
Where is the truth is all this? Or is this just another cover up? It seems to me if we do not have changes made at the top it will be the same old song, played to a different tune!
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Shouldn’t we wait until the money is paid out first?
 
Scott, Thanks for your quick reply. But have you read the following article in the National Catholic Register?

During Dark Hours in L.A., Catholics Move Forward

BY SUE ELLIN BROWDER

REGISTER CORRESPONDENT

August 5-11, 2007 Issue | Posted 7/31/07 at 11:11 AM

LOS ANGELES — As the Archdiocese of Los Angeles prepares to sell off property and slash expenses to pay its share of the $660 million sexual-abuse settlement reached with more than 500 claimants, faithful Catholics here report a sense of “sadness” but also of moving forward.

This latest settlement will cost the Church $250 million. About 100 cases against religious orders that work within the archdiocese remain outstanding.

Shortly after the settlement, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his pain and concern over the “devastating scale” of clerical sexual abuse in Los Angeles, according to Catholic News Service.

The New York Times reported this latest payment “leaves the archdiocese free to move on, its leadership untouched and its parishes and schools unaffected.” But, in fact, the sex scandals are something Catholics here will never “get over,” said Deacon David Estrada, executive director of the archdiocese’s Office of Synod Implementation.

“On the contrary,” Deacon Estrada said, “this will remain in our collective memories for a long, long time and, historically, be part of our heritage forever.”

And yet in the middle of this dark hour, Deacon Estrada said Catholics here also feel a sense of moving forward with “new hope and new challenge.”

Religious Sister of Charity Edith Prendergast, director of the archdiocesan Office of Religious Education, also expressed hope.

“We don’t know which of our programs, if any, will be affected. It’s all too soon,” she said. She noted, however, she has heard that when anyone on the staff in the chancery leaves, they will not be replaced.

The chancery building is up for sale to help pay the settlement costs. Whether the chancery will have to vacate the premises depends on whether or not the new owners will be willing to lease back the building.

In anticipation of the sex-abuse payouts, Cardinal Roger Mahony announced in May that some 50 properties owned by the archdiocese would soon be up for sale, with possible others to follow. The properties to be sold were acquired to establish parishes, schools and convents, and for other similar ministry purposes, the cardinal said.

“No parishes or parish schools will be closed to fund these settlements,” Cardinal Mahony promised.

One program Sister Edith directs that will remain unaffected by the financial cuts is the Religious Education Congress, the largest annual gathering of Catholics in the nation. The 2007 Congress, held in Anaheim Stadium, was a record-breaking event, with 40,886 registrants and 196 speakers.
 
Ok. I’m not sure where the objection lies. Unless you mean that all those assets acquired were acquired from the usual contributions of the laity. Sure they were, so the laity are paying for it in a sense. When they say they are not going to take from the parish collection, I think anyone understands this to mean that there isn’t going to be a general plea to the laity to cough up more than their usual donations to offset it. And moreover, one can also argue that this is a general intention rather than a solemn promise.
 
Hi Scott,

I guess that my objection is that every Sunday at Mass I am told just continue to give to the “PSA” or other fund raisers. On several occasions now, we have been read a letter from the Bishop stating not to worry that the money we contribute weekly is not going to pay for the settlements. The Diocese is going to use their cash reserves or real estate holds to satisfy those claims.

They make it sound like they have money that came from some other place other than from the Parishes! In my mind, if they take week collection money to pay a mortgage and then sell the property, that transaction should not be promoted as not effecting the Parishes. Again, if they sell their real estate holds and now have to rent the space back and add that rent to their annual operating budget. That directly affects the Parishes. Where else to they get the money?

Matt
 
When people die, they leave property and money to their local parishes.

God bless,
Ed
 
edwest2 said:
When people die, they leave property and money to their local parishes.
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Yes, I think estate bequests are an important source of accumulated Church wealth. A few years ago, the Diocese of Sacramento put a mobile home court up for sale after they decided that being a landlord for so many people was just too far afield for them. It was bequeathed to them (along with a golf course, if I remember right)
 
edwest2 said:
When people die, they leave property and money to their local parishes.
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Some people do, though I’m sure some wills have been edited. The RCC has received its last dime from me.

Nohome
 
Nohome said:
Some people do, though I’m sure some wills have been edited. The RCC has received its last dime from me.

Nohome
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So you are going to condemn me and all other Catholics for what a few have done? Like they say a few bad apples don’t mean the whole barrel is rotten. 😦
 
Nohome said:
You condemn yourself (and your children) by supporting and enabling the evil that continues to fester.

You got the quote wrong, it’s one bad apple spoils the whole barrel.

usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/one+bad+apple.html

Nohome
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Interesting, I have NEVER heard that quote used that way.

So, the Madonna House, Catholic Charities and all other organizations inside the Church are condemned? I’m sorry but I prefer to look at individual people and not the entire organization. The fact is there is far more good than bad in the Church.

If we went by your logical then the USA needs to be condemned for all the bad that it has done and continues to do.
 
Sabda said:
If we went by your logical then the USA needs to be condemned for all the bad that it has done and continues to do.
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The USA has a system of checks and balances because our founding fathers knew that corruption has a way of infiltrating organizations. There is no such system in the RCC.

Nohome
 
Nohome said:
The USA has a system of checks and balances because our founding fathers knew that corruption has a way of infiltrating organizations. There is no such system in the RCC.

Nohome
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Some would argue that the checks and balances in the US are not working to well.

The Catholic Church does have a set of rules. However, that does not mean that every member of the Church is going to obey them any more than it means that every member of the US is going to obey the rules in the US.
 
You simply cannot have an organization as big as and with as long a history as the Catholic Church and not have some problems – even huge problems like this will get through It’s not an excuse, but just a fact of life here.

Welcome to life on earth. (It ain’t heaven yet.)
 
I live in the Toledo (Ohio) diocese, and every year, we have what is called the Annual Catholic Appeal. This collection funds a lot of worth while things such as crisis pregnancy centers, food pantrys, annulments, etc. This year, they have roughly half the money collected that they received last year. I believe the reason is the priest abuse scandels in our diocese. So if you withold money for the Church as a previous poster suggested, you are hurting a lot of people that are helped by the above services. Maybe for some, it’s just a convenient excuse not to give any money.
 
Sabda said:
So you are going to condemn me and all other Catholics for what a few have done? Like they say a few bad apples don’t mean the whole barrel is rotten. 😦
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I’m kinda tired of this baloney copout phrase “a few bad apples” Its took more than a few bad apples to rake up almost a billion dollars in pay outs due to cover ups! :mad:

The giving I now do is not in a basket where it can be misappropriated by greedy priests or in a bind archdioceses…I will now only give where it can be ACCOUNTED for - and thats to places like Saint Jude Childrens Hospital and such.
 
davy39 said:
I live in the Toledo (Ohio) diocese, and every year, we have what is called the Annual Catholic Appeal. This collection funds a lot of worth while things such as crisis pregnancy centers, food pantrys, annulments, etc. This year, they have roughly half the money collected that they received last year. I believe the reason is the priest abuse scandels in our diocese. So if you withold money for the Church as a previous poster suggested, you are hurting a lot of people that are helped by the above services. Maybe for some, it’s just a convenient excuse not to give any money.
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This not true at all. The Church can easily co-opt these funds, take half for purposes we may not want hem to take for. All one has to do is donate DIRECTLY to these causes and leave the so called “middle man” (the church) out of the need or temptation to misuse our cash or checks made out to the name of the church and not the names of the places they claim to help. YEP, I am jaded 😉
 
CathCentrist said:
This not true at all. The Church can easily co-opt these funds, take half for purposes we may not want hem to take for. All one has to do is donate DIRECTLY to these causes and leave the so called “middle man” (the church) out of the need or temptation to misuse our cash or checks made out to the name of the church and not the names of the places they claim to help. YEP, I am jaded 😉
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Your point is well taken, but due to lack of funds, they are closing down some pregnancy centers and laying off the employees, 23 in all. I don’t believe people will give directly to each cause as quickly as they would to a general collection. We just have to trust that the monies will get to where they are supposed to go. To leave the churches bankrupt is not the answer, in my opinion.
 
davy39 said:
I don’t believe people will give directly to each cause as quickly as they would to a general collection. We just have to trust that the monies will get to where they are supposed to go. To leave the churches bankrupt is not the answer, in my opinion.
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It took me less than 30 minutes to take what I used to give directly to to RCC, identify a half dozen local service organiations and divide it equally among them. I feel much better about where my money goes.

The sooner the RCC is flat broke, the better!

Nohome
 
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