WISCONSIN
National Catholic Reporter
Apr 16, 2018
by Peter Feuerherd
Jack Ruhl, an expert on diocesan finances, frequently wanders through the thicket of church financial disclosures, but has never seen anything like the dissolution of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, lay pension plan.
La Crosse lay diocesan retirees and employees received word about their pensions in a letter dated Feb. 27 from Bishop William Patrick Callahan, who has led the diocese since 2010. In the letter, retirees were told they could expect more than 90 percent of the value of their pensions in a lump-sum payment that will be distributed this summer.
Ruhl, a professor of accountancy at Western Michigan University, has studied finance statements of U.S. dioceses since 2004, looking for the impact of sex abuse settlements and their effect on priest pension plans. That issue arose in the aftermath of the scandals that enveloped the Boston Archdiocese.
Meanwhile, he has also studied the impact of the crisis on lay pension plans. He has seen a number of examples, including massive transfer of funds to special independent projects, such as the building of Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles, that protected diocesan funds from sex abuse settlements.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.