CLEVELAND (OH)
The Plain Dealer

By Dave Davis, The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland Catholic Diocese officials said Monday that it has received $19.5 million related to the closing of parishes and is reinvesting in those that remain.

The total includes proceeds from the sale of parish property and cash that parishes had on hand when they closed.

Money largely followed parishioners to their newly merged churches or to churches assigned the territory of the closed parishes, according to the diocese. But in cases where significant groups of people could not be tracked to a new parish, the money was contributed to the diocese’s Parish Assistance Fund to help any of the remaining 174 parishes with financial hardships or emergencies. That fund now has $1.3 million.