The budget, penny by penny

Imagine a parish where every Sunday a note is placed on parishioners’ seats highlighting the amount of offerings collected the previous week. Imagine also that the website of the same parish enables free download of the balance sheet in PDF format of the. Imagine also that brochures with the parish budget that feature a list of receipts and expenditures, the profile of the contributors and two editorials of introduction and explanation signed by the parish priest and by the president of the Parish Finance Committee are distributed to parishioners. It is precisely what the parish of St. Brigid in Belfast does, without hesitation, for anyone who wishes to know the amount of costs incurred and revenues received. Even the reduction of the debt. Receipts, expenditures, surplus and debt. For parish priest Edward O’Donnell, transparency and responsibility are important aspects of the financial administration of the Church and it is a legitimate right of the parishioners, as many as two thousand families, to know that this is carried out according to the highest standards. Meeting these standards is a duty for the priest. The folder with the balance sheet shows that the annual income, that puts together Mass offerings, donations, incomes from charity sales and rents, amounts to approximately 529 thousand pounds (667thousand euro). Expenditures, including wages, salaries, management costs of the parish, parish church necessities, amounted to 365 thousand pounds (460 thousand euro). 2013 saw a net surplus for the financial statements of St. Brigid, which has thus been able to substantially reduce its debt with the bank. Around Europe… Without other forms of support the local church can only rely on its faithful. Dedication to the parish is testified by a surprising figure: on average, the parish church collects 1.313 pounds in cash offerings every week, the equivalent of 1.654 euro, which brings to mind certain Sunday baskets in which tinkle a few coins, and at times just a few cents. Certainly, countless parishes across Europe have adopted similar and praiseworthy initiatives for administrative transparency. But such an administrative transparency of parish funds is rather impressive. “Thank you” for your constant support. It had never happened to find among Sunday photocopied handouts also a small highlighted slip of paper with words of gratitude to the faithful for their constant support and for having donated 4700 pounds last week. A Catholic community is measured not only in terms of religious practice but also in terms of its administrative correctness. For this reason, ensuring transparency of accounts, clearly reporting on how the collected sums are used and managed, sharing figures on the budgetary year and countering the waste of economic resources are part of a battle which the Church has been conducting for a long time also to provide an efficient response to media distortions and attacks against the ecclesial community arriving from various directions. Today, financial transparency demanded of Christians is a decisive factor for credibility. The Pope teaches, but parishes, dioceses, and bishops’ conferences are called to do their share.