IX
DIOCESE OF SCRANTON
300 Wyoming Avenue, Scranton, PA 18503
PHONE: 570-207-2237
FAX: 570-207-1459
August 20, 2007
OFFICE
Anthony and Noreen Foti
770 Lantern Hill Road
Shavertown, Pennsylvania18708
Dear Anthony and Noreen Foti:
Please note that I am in receipt of your letter dated July 30, 2007. There is no doubt that you spent a great deal of time examining and analyzing the data presented in the Catholic Light which listed all parishes and their education assessment for the 2007-2008 school year. I trust you can understand that the task of developing assessments affecting all parishes of the Diocese of Scranton was one that was not taken lightly. It was only after numerous hours of reviewing different scenarios and working with members of the clergy that we made a final decision on how assessments would be formulated.
Let me say that there are a number of issues you present in your analysis which cannot be disputed; however, in order to ease parishes into this new assessment the consensus was to create a cap that would provide those parishes like Sacred Heart/St. John's a reduction, albeit a lesser reduction than they would have experienced if the 25% formula were established across the board. At the same time we recognized that parishes with lower assessments would need time to adjust to the large increase placed on these same parishes. This is even more true of the numerous parishes not heretofore assessed.
One can certainly make the argument that this was an arbitrary number and did not provide the equity that was sought by utilizing the $50,000 cap. However, you must understand that when the pastors received their education assessment it was explained that this adjustment was for a period of transition. Eventually assessments will be calculated according to a standard formula.
In your letter you assert that the Diocese saved approximately $5,000,000 in closing the schools. This is not the case. It was only after the closure of the schools that we were able to ascertain the true cost incurred in the operation of our schools. All schools were operating on a cash-basis accounting system, and the reports presented to the Diocese were not accurate reports.
Schools were using future monies to pay current and past bills. Benefits were agreed upon with no funds set aside to pay these future benefits. Many upgrades had to be made to the physical plants, technology upgrades were necessary, and curriculum had to be
Anthony and Noreen Foti Page 2 August 20, 2007
improved in order to compete with the public and other private schools within the Diocese. Loans were provided to high schools to meet current expenses. All these were tallied and placed on a twenty-year amortization schedule which created an annual debt service of $1,000,000 per year for the next twenty years. Also, a number of families made the decision no longer to send their children to Catholic school. This lowered the tuition revenues.
With the development of the 2007-2008 school budgets, the Diocese realized it would need in excess of $15,000,000 from parish subsidies to fund the Catholic schools. The three sources of income that the schools have are: tuition, parish subsidies, and school fundraising. Since approximately one half of the per-pupil cost is covered by tuition, and fundraising efforts over the years have fallen short of established goals; only parish subsidies are left to cover the remaining cost.
In your letter you suggest that we eliminate the $50,000 cap for the eighteen parishes that were affected adversely by the cap. You stated that this is only a $760,000 reduction in the educational assessment and that the Diocese could absorb it. Let me point out that every penny of the approximate $15,000,000 assessment is needed to fund the 2007-2008 school budgets. If we felt these monies were not necessary, we certainly would have reduced assessments to the parishes.
All who worked to establish the assessment formula knew that it was not a perfect solution but also believed that during this transitional year it was the best we could do. By centralizing the finances we hope to be able to cut expenses and reduce administrative costs. Boards of Directors still have to be appointed to the four newly formed corporations. These Boards will provide financial oversight and assist in the development and implementation of school budgets.
Canon law for the universal Church is, of necessity, somewhat general since it must be applied in a wide variety of historical, social, political, and cultural settings. While, for example, the pastoral office of a Bishop and the nature of a parish are the same throughout the world, the ways and means of assuring Catholic education and administering Catholic schools vary broadly. What is clear, however, is that "the duty and right of educating belongs in a special way to the Church" (canon 794 §1), and that "[p]astors of souls (bishops and clergy) have the duty of arranging everything so that all the faithful have a Catholic education" (can. 794 §2). While in the past this obligation was typically fulfilled almost exclusively at the parish level, the increased complexity of education today has led pastors to seek more centralized means of fulfilling this duty. The recent restructuring of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Scranton is the local Church's current best effort to respond to this need.
Anthony and Noreen Foti Page 2 August 20, 2007
The Church welcomes all the faithful "to make known to the pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires" (can. 212 §2). Qualified lay persons advise their pastors in a variety of ways, such as through parochial and diocesan finance and pastoral councils (can. 228 §2). Indeed, the administration of Catholic schools is largely entrusted to expert lay educators. Pastors, however, represent the parish in all juridic affairs, including those involving the administration of temporal goods (can. 532). A "congregationalist" approach is contrary to the Catholic ecclesiological tradition.
We pray and trust that with the assistance of many fine lay people throughout the Diocese of Scranton, the Catholic schools will continue to grow and that we will be able to provide an affordable education to families within the Diocese. It is the goal of all involved to preserve and advance Catholic education within the Diocese.
James M. Quinn
Diocesan Secretary for Financial Services
cc: Most Reverend Joseph F. Martino, D.D. James B. Barley Joseph G. Casciano
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