Parishioners will be aware that the Archdiocese has appointed an Administrator to the parish to monitor the income and expenses. The exact nature of the Archdiocese's concerns has never been made clear, but it appears it considered that parish decisions to assist the poor were made without due regard to our capacity to pay parish operating costs.
It is certainly the case that we have had to seek temporary financial assistance from the Archdiocese because the income from the use of the old school building did not come online as soon as expected. Part of the reason for that was the delay in negotiating the required permissions from the Archdiocese.
The Archdiocese has been a reluctant lender to the parish, and it is probably accurate to say that its status as a creditor has caused it to take a greater interest in the parish finances that it otherwise would. I have no quarrel with that. The real issue is whether the archdiocesan response to those concerns is in proportion to a reasonable assessment of its position.
The parish owes the Archdiocese something in the order of $90,000. Although the plans for the leasing of part of the school property are only partly advanced, it is clear that the parish will receive some millions of dollars. The debt to the Archdiocese should be seen in that light. Appointing someone (at our cost) to countersign cheques for gas and electricity etc would seem to many people to be overkill.
Someone not interested in the religious aspects of the relationship between a parish and an Archdiocese might be surprised to learn that it has some of the characteristics you would expect to see between a franchisor and a franchisee - for example Jim's Mowing. Doubtless Jim requires his franchisees to adopt procedures and formalities which fit a desired format. We are working with the administrator to do that here in the parish.
Separate bank accounts are being opened in accordance with Archdiocesan guidelines. Those guidelines specify which expenses are paid by the 'presbytery' and which are paid by the 'parish'. As we acquire the necessary details we will inform parishioners of what, if any, consequence it has for donations and contributions (for instance, via the plate).
Our recent history has been that we haven't had boundaries between the various functions of the parish. By the way, one of the consequences of this is that Fr Bob has generally not drawn the stipend to which he is entitled. Those boundaries are now being drawn and we will do our best to apply them.
One other fact that might help put all this in perspective is that the most recent estimate of the value of property held by the Catholic Church in Australia is $100b.
Tony Long - On behalf of the Parish Finance Committee
