From The Boston Globe:

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, moving to stabilize its finances and replace an old-fashioned patchwork of parish taxes and fees, is rolling out a new financial model in which all parishes will be expected to contribute 18 percent of their weekly offertory, “grand annual’’ fund-raising drive, and net rental income to the archdiocese’s central ministries….Thirty-three parishes are participating in a yearlong test of the program that began July 1. All parishes will transition to the new system next year.

The change is occurring at a time when the archdiocese hopes to balance its budget for the first time in years, but still faces a severely depleted priest pension fund, declining Mass attendance, and a drop in Catholic school enrollment. One-third of the 291 parishes in Greater Boston ended the 2009 fiscal year in the red.

The new plan was created by a committee and is similar to that of a number of other dioceses in the U.S. Still, it has met with some skepticism among parishoners.

“I think the abuse crisis and the reconfiguration process engendered a great deal of mistrust . . . and some of that has been demonstrated by a lack of contributions,’’ said Chris O’Brien, a member of Corpus Christi-St. Bernard Parish in Newton, one of the parishes in the pilot program. “I think now what we are seeing is that the archdiocese is coming in on a financial level and simply taking what they want from parishes.’’

…Warren Hutchison, a member of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Brookline, said he wants the archdiocese to succeed, but he thinks the new system is the wrong approach. “What it very well may do is dissuade people from giving to their local parishes, because they feel they’re being forced to give to the archdiocese,’’ he said.

But archdiocesan officials say the parishes and the archdiocese are interdependent; both must be financially sound to carry out the church’s social and spiritual missions. They also say the new model is more equitable and transparent than the present one, which requires parishes to pay fees to support services provided by the archdiocese, such as schools, auditing, and hospital chaplaincy. The parishes are also expected to help the archdiocese raise money through the annual Catholic Appeal.

The Rev. Richard M. Erikson, vicar general of the archdiocese, stressed the importance of all parishes, however, regardless of their potential for financial contributions.

“We don’t judge parishes on their financial capability or performance; we judge parishes on their ability to bring people to Christ,’’ he said. “We have many parishes in very poor parts of our archdiocese who may not be making it financially, but they are at the heart of our efforts for evangelization.’’

I’d like to hear your thoughts. Is the new finance system fair? Will parishoners change the way or amount they donate as a result of this new policy?

Kerry Weber

Kerry Weber joined the staff of America in October 2009. Her writing and multimedia work have since earned several awards from the Catholic Press Association, and in 2013 she reported from Rwanda as a recipient of Catholic Relief Services' Egan Journalism Fellowship. Kerry is the author of Mercy in the City: How to Feed the Hungry, Give Drink to the Thirsty, Visit the Imprisoned, and Keep Your Day Job (Loyola Press) and Keeping the Faith: Prayers for College Students (Twenty-Third Publications). A graduate of Providence College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, she has previously worked as an editor for Catholic Digest, a local reporter, a diocesan television producer, and as a special-education teacher on the Navajo reservation in Arizona.