The Denver Roman Catholic Archdiocese appears to be on sound financial footing at a time when its assets are threatened by clergy sexual-abuse litigation.
The archdiocese operated in the black, enjoyed a successful grassroots fundraising campaign and resembles the picture of stability, according a report issued Tuesday that covers the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2005.
But Archbishop Charles Chaput also pointed out several challenges to the bottom line, including the rising costs of insurance premiums, caring for priests reaching retirement and tending to high schools suffering enrollment declines and cost hikes.
Those are problems that a few U.S. dioceses would envy. Two dioceses – in Portland and Tucson – have filed for bankruptcy as a result of clergy sexual-abuse litigation, and others have been forced to shutter churches.
Among the report’s details:
The Archbishop’s Catholic Appeal, an annual drive for an array of programs, raised more than $7 million, a slight increase over last year.
Individual parishes’ contributions to the archdiocese increased from $4.7 million to $4.9 million, indicating a healthy collection plate.
Total net assets were $129.7 million, holding steady from the previous year.
The archdiocese ran $2.5 million in the black for the fiscal year while its private foundation posted a $1.8 million deficit.
Jim Dolan, executive director of the Catholic Foundation of Denver, cited a large debt-reduction grant to Bishop Machebeuf High School, disappointing returns on an investment portfolio and just $2 million in new gifts, or half the fundraising goal.
“Financially, this looks like it’s a very stable archdiocese and one that would probably be in the upper half of financial stability in the U.S. now,” said Charles Zech, a Villanova University economics professor who studies Catholic Church finances.
Zech said bishops’ appeals around the county are rebounding after declines following the clergy-abuse scandal, which hit in 2002. Zech noted that while the increase in Chaput’s drive is encouraging, the percentage gain over the previous year – 1.6 percent – falls below the 2.7 percent inflation rate of that period.
Because the report covers activity through the end of June, it does not reflect the potential impact of allegations of clergy sexual abuse that have emerged against former archdiocesan priests. The archdiocese is the subject of more than 20 lawsuits in the past six months, setting up a potentially costly legal fight and donation concerns.
“In some dioceses with this kind of litigation, some people are hesitant to give because instead of the money going to their school or church, it ends up going in lawyers’ pockets and to victims,” said Fred Naffziger, a law professor at Indiana University South Bend who studies church and bankruptcy law.
But Jeanette DeMelo, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said donations in recent months are holding steady.
“We interpret that lack of real change as people of the archdiocese having confidence in us,” DeMelo said.
Staff writer Eric Gorski can be reached at 303-820-1698 or egorski@denverpost.com.
