Archdiocese of New York Throwing a Hail Mary to Avoid Bankruptcy?

"The news about the latest round of forced fundraising about to hit the parishes will not be widely discussed and pastors will not take the case to their parish communities. “It is not going to be totally democratic,” acknowledged a pastor."

- Keith Kelly, The Spirit

Two articles appeared recently stating that the Bishop Edmund Whelan, Vicar General of the archdiocese, held an emergency meeting with pastors last week.  Per these articles the archdiocese is on the verge of a catastrophic financial shortfall related to paying reparations to victims of abuse.  To avoid bankruptcy the archdiocese has proposed to examine the finances of the parishes and assess them for an amount to surrender to the archdiocese to in an effort to reduce a shortfall that would otherwise drive the archdiocese into bankruptcy.

Each parish's monies and real estate are held by separate civil corporations under New York State Religious Corporation Law.  The corporate Board of Directors consists of the Archbishop, now Ronald Hicks, the Vicar General, now Bishop Whelan, the parish's Pastor and 2 lay trustees appointed by the Pastor.  The composition of the board allows the Archdiocese to control assets without legally owning them.  Very handy in times of trouble.

It is my understanding that releasing the requested funds to the Archdiocese would therefore involve a vote by the parish's corporate board of directors. Mr. Kelly's article goes on to say:

"Instead, the archdiocese will be sending representatives to meet individually in the next few weeks to meet with pastors, the two lay trustees of each parish and the financial committee to determine how much each parish will be asked to contribute."

It sounds like these get togethers are going to be more like a vote than a consultation, given the presence of the lay trustees.  I hope the trustee know that they are voting.  It may not be formal.

Please read all about it at The Spirit.  Mr. Kelly does a good job of placing this development in the context of archdiocesan finances and real estate transactions: Archdiocese to Pastors: Raise Millions for Sexual Abuse Victims or go Bankrupt