Tighten financial controls on U.S. parishes, add bishops' oversight, lay experts urge

The Accounting Practices Committee, which advisesthe U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), offered therecommendations to improve existing diocesan policies on financialgovernance at the parish level, especially as it relates to thereceiving of cash from the Sunday Mass collection plate.

The committee recommendations, released Jan. 18 by the USCCB, come onemonth after the release of a new study by Villanova University thatfound that 85 percent of Roman Catholic dioceses in the United Stateshave discovered embezzlement during the last five years, with 11percent having been embezzled out of more than a half-million dollarseach and 29 percent reporting embezzlements of less than $50,000.

The study, by authors Robert West and Charles Zech, experts in churchmanagement and accounting, said the high rate of embezzlement reflecteda lack of professionalism in financial oversight, as well as asometimes-too-trusting attitude toward those handling money.

The survey was launched in the wake of complaints by some lay Catholicsthat the church's clergy sexual-abuse crisis might have been discoveredlong ago if the nation's 175 dioceses had made public financialstatements showing payouts to abuse victims.

The committee stressed the role of the diocese in providing policiesand training for parishes and urging "effective oversight by the bishopfor compliance."

Among the recommendations, which the committee noted should supplementand improve existing diocesan policies on financial governance at theparish level, include:

- An annual letter from the parish to the bishop containing the namesand professional titles of the parish finance council members, dates ofcouncil meetings the preceding fiscal year and a reporting of when theapproved parish financial statements/budgets were made available to theparishioners.

- The delivery of published parish financial statements/budgets to the diocesan bishop.

- A statement signed by the parish priest and the finance councilmembers that they have met, developed and discussed the financialstatements and budget of the parish.

- Thorough diocesan training for parish finance council members relative to their roles and responsibilities.

- Establishment of diocesan policies to cover conflicts of interest,protection of whistleblowers and a fraud policy, which would includeprosecution of all fraud cases in the diocese.

- Completion of an annual internal control questionnaire by each parishwith proper review and follow-up made by qualified diocesan personnel.

- Development of a parish best practices manual.

- Integration of financial training into seminarian programs so thatprospective priests will be better prepared to handle parish financialmatters.

Acknowledging that many dioceses already have good policies in place,the committee indicated that the recommendations should be viewed as acall for re-doubling of efforts.

It added that the recommendations must be complementary to the workbeing done by the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference on the internalaudits of parishes, under the auspices of the USCCB Ad Hoc Committee onDiocesan Audits.

"The recommendations are reasonable and helpful," said Bishop Dennis M.Schnurr of Duluth, Minn., treasurer of the U.S. bishops' conference,adding that he would work to have many of them implemented in hisdiocese.

Yet, he did not agree with the need to train seminarians in parish finances.

"Seminary days are jam packed enough, and I am not certain that finances should be added to the schedule," he said.

"Finance is an area of parish ministry that is wide open forparticipation of the laity. Members of the laity who have expertise andexperience with administration and finance should be invited andencouraged to consider a stewardship of their talents," he said.

"The message to our seminarians should be that, as parish leaders, theyare to recognize, call forth, and coordinate the talents that God hasentrusted to a particular parish community," Bishop Schnurr added.

The Accounting Practices Committee, chaired by William G. Weldon, acertified public accountant (CPA) and chief financial officer of theDiocese of Charlotte, N.C., includes nine CPAs with a diocesanaffiliation and four CPA advisers from large public accounting firms.