I have long had issues with the CMA. It is a very big conflict for me because I do indeed benefit from it. I would not be able to attend classes at SBSTM if it were not for the scholarships and tuition-assistance that I receive, and I am grateful for the support.
I am not so naïve that I don’t realize that money is a necessary evil. My problem is, if you (in this case the DOR) are going to ask me for more money, I want to make sure that you spending it wisely. I have seen lots of waste in the “day to day” operations of parishes that I have been involved with. I work in Health Care Management, and it is a struggle to provide the services needed and stay within my budget, and I try hard to keep my administrative costs low so that the majority of my budget goes to direct patient needs. Unfortunately this is not was happens with the CMA. Here is the breakdown from the DOR website-
2009-2010 CMA Allocations
(A)Faith Formation 10%Sacramental preparation, Adult Education, Campus, CYO Young Adult and Youth Ministry Programs
(B)Catholic Schools 5%Support for programs, aid to students and schools
(C)Catholic Charities 13%Support for the 10 regional offices / agencies serving people throughout our 12 counties.
(D)Parish Support Ministries 18%Liturgical, Urban, Rural, Multicultural & Jail Services, Subsidies & Programs
(E)Human Resources 4%Staff recruitment & training, support to St. Bernard School of Theology & Ministry
(F)Bishop's Ministry / Pastoral Planning 10% Bishop's Office, consultative councils and planning services
(G)Diocesan-wide Administrative & Support Services 19% Hospital Chaplaincy, Stewardship, Finance, Information Technology, etc.
(H)Pastoral Center Operation & Services 15% Operational and system costs of the diocesan offices
(I)CMA Campaign Costs 6% Campaign staff, materials, data processing and postage
Total Goal: $5,490,000
I have added the letters for reference, so now let’s look at this-
A-B-C-D, I think we can all agree that these are important ministries of any diocese, and I will call them as such.
E-F-G-H-I are for the most part, what I believe to be administrative (with the exceptions of Hospital Chaplaincy, if this is not ministry, I am not sure what is anymore, and support to STSTM for the reasons stated above.)
So let’s do a little arithmetic!
A+B+C+D= 46%
Which leaves 54% of the money donated to the Catholic Ministries Appeal actually going to administrative costs?
Add to this the whole process for coming up with individual parish goals (based on last year’s collections), and the fact that the individual parish has to make up for any short-fall, and only gets to keep 50% of any overage collected! And finally, there is no real input from the people of the Diocese as to how this money is actually spent (as far as I know)!
Now, I know that this is overly simplified, but it doesn’t change that if you are going to call something a “ministry appeal” shouldn’t the money collected actually go to ministry and not to the administrative costs of the Bishop’s office, the Pastoral Center, IT and Human Resources, and the cost of the actual campaign itself?!
And the fact the admistrative costs associated with the CMA is higher than the allotment for Catholic schools is just plain WRONG!
As I said before, I understand that it is important that we support our churches and our diocese. I am not sure how I would accomplish this, but I really think that the right thing to do for all involved is to prayerfully consider what exactly you are asking for and then do so with honesty and humility.
Our Diocese (and the world) would be a much better place if we all could!
Peace to All!
Wonderful points all, Persis. Well said.
ReplyDeletePersis,
ReplyDeleteMy primary objection to the CMA is that it is not truly voluntary, so to speak. It happens every year, and as you note, parishes are assigned goal amounts which they MUST meet. If they don't collect it from their parishioners, then the church has to make it up by dipping into savings or other assets. To me, this is extortion at worst, a tax, at best. If the chancery was honest about it, I'd object less. An appeal is an earnest plea for funds. It implies that those funds are voluntarily given without resorting to extracting funds from the church. Charity must be done voluntarily otherwise, it is not genuine.
Now you could have a really interesting discussion about why the charitable giving of Catholics is so low (I think there is a book called "Why Catholics Don't Give and What Can Be Done About it" which I really keep meaning to read - add it to the list). My husband and I were lousy givers until we both had a profound conversion experience during which we learned and assented to Humanae Vitae. That event really forced us to stop approaching our faith as a "cafeteria" and to either accept the Church as Christ's Church with the power to teach us, or reject it flat out. Thanks be to God, we accepted.
With this acceptance we could no longer could pick and choose the teachings we would follow. And Jesus was pretty clear about our obligations to the poor. "Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do to me."
Another thing Jesus was pretty clear about was being a good steward of our gifts. If over 54% of the funds are spent on administrative expenses, I'm not sure that's showing good stewardship. The charities we currently support have administrative costs around 4% of total budget. I won't be supporting the CMA this year.
"And finally, there is no real input from the people of the Diocese as to how this money is actually spent (as far as I know)!"
ReplyDeleteYou're right! The laity, who constitute the great majority of the Catholic faithful and who contribute the funds essential to the sustenance of our parishes and our priests, presently are effectively excluded from exercising any decisive authority over parish administration and finance.
Nice blog, by the way