Catholic Diocese Stemmed Red Ink in 2009, Ted Nesi, PBN, March 5, 2010

Catholic Diocese Stemmed Red Ink in 2009

By Ted Nesi
PBN
March 5, 2010

http://www.pbn.com/detail/48349.html

THE CATHEDRAL of Saints Peter and Paul in Providence, built in 1878, is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence.

PROVIDENCE – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence finished its 2009 fiscal year with a surplus, rebounding from a money-losing year in fiscal 2008, according to the diocese’s annual financial report.

The diocese’s General Fund posted a surplus of $60,823 for the year ended June 30, 2009, compared with a deficit of $203,987 in the prior year. The diocese’s annual revenue, about 60 percent of which comes from parish assessments, rose 2 percent to $4.5 million.

The diocese’s Catholic Charity Fund ended the last fiscal year with a small deficit of $35,390, compared with a surplus of $142,459 in fiscal 2008. Catholic Charity’s annual revenue rose 3 percent to $7.84 million.

“The news this year is mixed,” Bishop of Providence Thomas J. Tobin said in a letter accompanying the report. While the two funds nearly broke even, that was only because of a reduction in spending on some diocesan activities, he said.

The diocese is the fourth-largest employer in Rhode Island, with about 6,200 workers in the state, according to Providence Business News data.

Tobin also noted that the diocese’s investment income dropped 75 percent to $15,787 last year even as expenses rose across a number of categories. “These are areas of present concern and will need to be closely monitored in the future,” the bishop said.

Administration – a category encompassing everything from the bishop’s office to the Rhode Island Catholic newspaper – accounted for $2.79 million, or 62 percent, of the diocese’s General Fund expenditures last year.

Two categories made up two-thirds of spending from the Catholic Charity Fund: education, spiritual formation and evangelization ($2.9 million) and community and pastoral services such as emergency food and shelter aid ($2.4 million).