Catholic parishes to pay higher fees

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
July 23, 2017

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/07/23/catholic-parishes-pay-higher-fees/486945001/

In this July 11 flle photo, Archdiocesan Finance Council member Rick Duenas, left, and Chairmain Richard Untalan answer inquiries on the finances of the Archdiocese of Agana.

Each parish has its own revenues, mostly from collections during Mass and other church functions, donations and fundraising activities.

To help Guam's Catholic Church correct past financial mismanagement, pay debts and properly fund chancery operations, village parishes will see an average of 186-percent increases in assessment fees.

This means up to a 1,146-percent hike for the Maina parish, for example, which used to pay only $107.82, church data shows.

The Dededo parish, the biggest, will be assessed $10,763.45 instead of the $5,481.26 imposed six years ago, or an increase of 96 percent.

The parish was only making $4,603.95 in actual payments, archdiocese data shows.

The proposed assessment for each of the Catholic Church's 25 parishes, excluding the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica in Hagåtña, was published in the July 16 issue of the archdiocese's weekly newspaper, Umatuna Si Yu'os.

Richard Untalan, president of the reconstituted Archdiocesan Finance Council, said Tuesday that none of the parish assessment increases will go toward or have gone toward funding the settlement of clergy sex abuse lawsuits filed against the archdiocese.

Total collection expected from the parish assessment is a little more than $1 million, which is part of the archdiocese's operating budget for fiscal 2017-2018.

The archdiocese said the actual collection or parish payments from 2011 on were short by $160,000 a year — an accumulated shortage of collection of $960,000 for the past six years.

"The past formula was found to be complex and not equitable among parishes because of varying adjustments," the archdiocese said.

The new parish assessment formula — effective July 1 — is based on 20 percent assessable revenue, the archdiocese said, in direct proportion to the revenue and size of the parish.

"While the numbers take in account many variables, the Archdiocesan Finance Council decided to identify a starting point to the base assessment in reaching the $2,561,377 needed budget to support chancery operations and cover its debt services and trade payables in arrears," the archdiocese said.

The previous formula was based on a 10 percent assessment on assessable income. Some parishes weren't paying the rate assigned to them.

"Catholic dioceses across the country fund basic operations related to the administration of their faith communities through parish assessments, which are canonically mandated," the archdiocese said. 

Collections, donations

Each parish has its own revenues, mostly from collections during Mass and other church functions, donations and fundraising activities.

An assigned monthly assessment, or a certain percentage of those funds, goes toward supporting and sustaining the functions and services of the Chancery, as canon law requires.

But the archdiocese had said that over the past several years, the Chancery hasn't implemented a budget that included resources needed to cover subsidies to items such as debt services. 

Untalan said there have been a series of meetings with clergy, parishes and school principals prior to changing the assessment rates, so nothing should come as a surprise.

The release of the new assessment rates came a few days after the Archdiocesan Finance Council's Untalan and Rick Duenas, along with Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes, held a news briefing to talk about the archdiocese's serious financial conditions. Byrnes had said the archdiocese's current finances are challenging.

Byrnes and other church officials vowed a more transparent and accountable archdiocese, to help regain the people's trust and restore confidence in the church.

Besides increasing parish assessments, the archdiocese also will impose two new assessments for 14 Catholic schools.

The first one is $25 per student each year, to fund the operations of the Catholic Schools Office, including the superintendent. The office provides direct administrative support to the schools and manages federally-funded grant programs under the U.S. Department of Education.

It's historically operated without direct funding by the schools, the archdiocese said. The Chancery has long covered the cost, which is about $87,000 a year.

The second is the monthly school assessment of $12 per student, or $144 a year per student, to help the Chancery in general, inclusive of services, support and assistance provided to schools.

The archdiocese said the Chancery will help, acknowledging the parish and school assessments imposed are steep and will require a budget shift.