For the Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of New York
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SUPERINTENDENT SCHOOLS For the Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of New York Catholic Schools in the News Spring 2013 Newsletter TABLE OF CONTENTS Commitment to Transparency ............................................3 Closing Schools to Serve Kids Better ..................................8 The Plan to Save Catholic Schools .....................................9 To Save NYC’s Catholic Schools .......................................11 2 CATHOLIC NEW YORK January 10, 2013 LORD, TO WHOM SHALL WE GO? Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan COMMITMENT TO TRANSPARENCY One of the things we bishops hear most often from faithful No w there is another area in which we hear increasing calls Catholics is a request for transparency, a desire to know how for transparency: Church finances. Part of it grows out of the the Church is meeting its various obligations, and how it deep concern people feel whenever they hear reports of theft or responds to problems that might arise. It r eally took hold, I misuse of C hurch funds. Sadly, we have had so me cases here in think, during the sex abuse crisis a decade ago. People the Archdiocese of New York. Just this past fall, for instance, a asked—naturally, properly—that we tell them how we were former archdi ocesan em ployee was sentenced to prison after going to deal with priests who had been accused of abuse, what having pleaded guilty to stealing more than $ 1 million from our procedures we were going to follow in the future, and how we education department. There have also been cases of priests were going to make certain that we were living up to our taking parish funds and using them for their personal expenses, promises. The Charter for the Protection of Children and You ng including the paying off of debts brought on by an addiction to People, de vel oped by the b ishops in Dallas in 2002 a nd gamblin g. W hi le it s eems lik e th ere has been an increase in subsequ ently ap pr ov ed by the Holy Se e so th at it becam e part such m isbehavior , I’ m not sure that is the ca se; part of th e of Church la w for thi s cou ntry, spelle d o ut the sta ndar ds that we app are nt rise in th e numb er of inci dents ste ms from the fa ct bish ops were setti ng for o urse lves in r esponding t o al legations that we n ow go public w ith suc h cases , r at her t han sim ply of s ex ual a buse. Th e a nnua l audits— w hich are co nduct ed b y an trying to deal with them inte rnally. W e hav e le arn ed— th e ha rd independent agency and examine how each diocese has w ay, perha ps— that p eo ple want an d deser ve to k now the truth han dle d an y claim s or cas es o f the s exua l a bus e o f m inors over about such matters. And, ultimately, while being transparent in the past yea r—m ak e ce rtain th at we ar e, in f ac t, doin g wh at w e these matt ers might m ean a tempo rary black eye for the sai d we wo uld do. Ye s, w e’ re constantly tryi ng to do even b etter, C hurc h, it is certai nly be tter than havi ng these c ases com e to but a ll agree w e’v e com e a lo ng wa y. light thro ug h wh isper s an d ru mors, a ccomp an ied by char ges o f “cover -up.” W hen there’s b ad news in t he Church , you tell us /@1627=13A/<A3@D713A/A=4/<24=@B63G3/@A3<232/C5CAB! /<2 pasto rs yo u’d r a th er hea r it f rom u s. 1=<23<A320/:/<13A633BA 1=<23<A32AB/B3;3<BA=4/1B7D7B73A As pa rt o f ou r comm itmen t to fin ancial tran sp a rency, the /aaSba( @SdS\cSa( 1OaVO\RW\dSab[S\ba ! &'"$ !# &'"& 1]\b`WPcbW]\aW\QZcRW\UQ]\b`WPcbSR #%#!#$ #%' " % aS`dWQSa Archdiocese of New York has, in recent years, published in :]O\aO\ROQQ]c\ba`SQSWdOPZS ^`W\QW^OZZgT`][^O`WaVSaO\R]bVS` % %!" ''! #!&' 5]dS`\[S\bU`O\baO\RQ]\b`OQba !"#%"!# !"%# %& OT¿ZWObSa\Sb Ac^^]`baS`dWQSTSSaO\ROaaSaa[S\ba #" "!# ' #"$"&% =bVS`OaaSba &%$"%$ %$"!%% T`][^O`WaVSaO\ROT¿ZWObSa Catholic New York an annual report on our services along with 0S\S¿QWOZW\bS`SabW\QVO`WbOPZSb`caba '#" '$ #'' 7\dSab[S\bW\Q][SW\QZcRW\U`S\bO\R !$'%"!! !$'&$! `]gOZbWSa 4WfSROaaSba $'%#!$ % "!$#%' a condensed balance sheet and statement of activities, audited =bVS``SdS\cSa $ #$%#$ #%!& ' B]bOZOaaSba "# "$%&' "!"!%"&% B]bOZ`SdS\cSa '! !!%' '"&&%$" :WOPWZWbWSa( and reviewed by KPMG, so that people could see our assets and 3f^S\aSa( /QQ]c\ba^OgOPZSO\R]bVS`ZWOPWZWbWSa &## '" %""%"#! 5`O\baO\RacPaWRWSab]^O`WaVSaO\R ""&!$$ !##$$'%& /ZZ]eO\QSaT]`^`]^S`bgQOacOZbgO\R "$&"!# " !!%# aQV]]Za e xpen ses for the pr eviou s yea r. I am g rateful to my t wo closes t VSOZbVW\ac`O\QSZ]aaSa 6SOZbVO\Ra]QWOZaS`dWQSa #!"#!%% #$%&!# /QQ`cSR^]ab`SbW`S[S\bVSOZbVPS\S¿ba ""#"## "#& '# T]`^`WSaba >Oab]`OZ '''&$$" !&!!%' collaborators on financial matters, the Chancellor, Monsignor :]O\a^OgOPZSb]OT¿ZWObSRS\bWbWSa '$' $& &&&'& 3RcQObW]\ %" " & " & B]bOZZWOPWZWbWSa $%!%!%& !'%&!& @SZWUW]ca^S`a]\\SZRSdSZ]^[S\b #$%#' #&#& $ Greg Mu staci uolo , and the C hief F inancia l Officer , Mr . William /T¿ZWObSac^^]`baS`dWQSa "'' "#"%$ " <SbOaaSba( /R[W\Wab`ObW]\ "'&' &# "%%&'" 3f^S\ROPZSc\`Sab`WQbSRO\R $"$! # $$&" &'! bS[^]`O`WZg`Sab`WQbSR 4c\R`OWaW\U '!$'"#' '!&!% Whiston, for their hard work and dedication—they’re the <]\Sf^S\ROPZSW\dSab[S\bW\¿fSR ! $&$ &"#$%#$ B]bOZSf^S\aSa $!'"! $& %## OaaSbaO\R^S`[O\S\bZg`Sab`WQbSR 3fQSaa]TSf^S\aSa]dS``SdS\cSa !!%$ " #$'!'' fina nce ex perts , not m e—and, in par t icular, for th ei r ef for ts in B]bOZ\SbOaaSba &"$%$" '# ''$"' 5OW\aO\R:]aaSa( B]bOZZWOPWZWbWSaO\R\SbOaaSba "# "$%&' "!"!%"&% <Sb`SOZWhSRO\Rc\`SOZWhSRW\dSab[S\b %%"' %# $!%! producing the annual report. A tremendous debt is also owed UOW\a 5OW\]\aOZS]TO`QVRW]QSaO\^`]^S`bg '&$'& "!# to t he me mbers of our F inan ce C oun cil—wi sely ap pointe d by =bVS`\Sb # #&% #&# The Archdiocesan Services Condensed Balance Sheets and Statements of Activities include the 2SQ`SOaSW\\SbOaaSba $ ! !& %'$%"% following entities: <SbOaaSbaObPSUW\\W\U]TgSO` '# ''$"' ! $!'$ my predecessor, Cardinal Edward Egan, and enthusiastically Archdiocese of New York, Archbishopric of New York, <SbOaaSbaObbVSS\R]TbVSgSO` &"$%$" '# ''$"' Archdiocesan Service Corporation, Ecclesiastical Assistance reap poi nt ed b y me—for reviewing an d ap pr oving the rep ort o n Corporation, Ecclesiastical Properties Corporation, Institutional Commodities Services Corporation, Cardinal Spellman Foundation, Saint Rose Settlement, Saint Paul services and condensed balance shee t and st ate me nt o f Guild, Parish Assistance Corporation, Department of Education, Catholic Indemnity Insurance Company, Saint a ctivities, and their ev er-vigilant oversight of our financial Joseph’s Seminary and College, The Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, and the Roman Catholic Fund for Children. affair s, as wel l as thei r a lw ay s sage advice. 3 At the urging of our Finance Council, we recently had an The second point is that, while the archdiocese is not rich, it outside firm review our financial operations—basically, how we does have a sustained record of supporting our parishes and handle the money, how we keep track of it, what safeguards are schools that cannot pay their bills. Thanks to the genius of my in place to make sure that the finances are secure. This special predecessors, notably Cardinal Francis Spellman and Cardinal audit, which was in addition to the usual annual audits that Terence Cooke, the archdiocese has found a way to assist needy result in the condensed balance sheet and statement of parishes, primarily through what has been called Inter-Parish activities, gave us consistently high marks for our operations Financing (IPF), which permits financially stronger parishes to and procedures; it did make a few suggestions about how we support parishes in need. Cardinal John O’Connor and Cardinal could do things better, and we have taken steps to implement Edward Egan each adapted and strengthened IPF, and am I ever this advice. For example, the firm suggested incorporating glad they did, because it allows many parishes and schools to enhanced monitoring reports for significant general ledger survive which otherwise would have had to close their doors processes, and expanded communications emphasizing the need decades ago. So, I am deeply grateful to my predecessors for for increased awareness for responsibly managing the fiscal their vision and diligence in their support of our institutions. resources entrusted to the archdiocese. This is now being done. While I know that this work of the IPF must and will continue, I believe that it is good practice to periodically have someone, I also know that we have reached a breaking point, and that independent of the archdiocese, review our operations to make sure we are utilizing all the best practices, so that we don’t some fundamental changes must be made in order for the allow ourselves to become complacent about our operations. system to survive and thrive. Right now, $46 million a year goes out to struggling parishes through IPF and other sources! That’s Because we are in the midst of two crucially important way too much.