| Budget axe falls in Los Angeles; chancery
staff faces drastic cuts
By ARTHUR JONES
Los Angeles
Archdiocesan employees’ emotions ranged from dismay to
disgust that Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony absented himself from a Sept. 10
meeting in which workers were told that up to half of them are about to lose
their jobs.
The archdiocese opened a $200 million cathedral Sept. 2 and to
date has paid out more than $3.6 million in sex abuse settlements, but
officials said neither of those circumstances had anything to do with the
layoffs. They blamed the budget shortfall on the drop in the stock market.
Faced with a $4.3 million budget shortfall, all archdiocesan
employees were called to the meeting and notified that 50 percent cuts were
likely in some departments, such as detention ministry. Other departments could
be eliminated altogether, as campus ministry was.
“The cardinal was present for the opening of the cathedral,
but he wasn’t present for the closing of the chancery office,” said
one employee. Another commented, “I’m utterly disgusted. I’m an
angry person right now. Religious ed, detention ministry, secretarial pool,
justice and peace, campus ministry, we were all there.” The reaction was
twofold -- criticism of Mahony’s absence, and anxiety for the future.
“I can tell you the room was charged with concern, stress,
frustration, anger -- and a number of people said they were appalled that the
cardinal opted not to be at the meeting,” said the employee.
“[Vicar General Terrance] Fleming took it upon himself and
said, ‘No, this is my job. I didn’t feel the cardinal needed to be
here, etc. etc.’ He got very defensive,” the person said.
Said a third, “We were told this was not connected to the sex
abuse payouts and the cathedral. And there was not a person in the room who
believed that. They cut 35 of our jobs last year, but added about that many
people to the staff of the new cathedral -- so that was a wash.”
Those at the meeting were told the archdiocese expects the
parishes and volunteers to take up the slack. An immediate response was,
“Volunteers cannot replace competent, trained ministers.”
“Decentralizing and locally grounding the ministries of the
church might have some merit,” said a letter circulated immediately after
the meeting, but it added, “to facilitate the move from chancery
office-centered [and funded] projects to parish- or deanery-based ones,
parishes should be given the incentive to take on ministries and fund necessary
positions. If a group of parishes near the county jail or juvenile hall wants
to pay for a chaplain, they should be able to deduct that expense from their
annual assessment.”
Tod Tamberg, archdiocesan spokesperson, said, “What brought
us to this moment is the archdiocesan finance council’s failure to approve
earlier this month the proposed Archdiocesan Catholic Center’s budget for
FY 2003.
“The proposed budget contained $4.3 million in deficit
spending. Acting in accord with its responsibility under canon law, the finance
council said it would not approve a deficit budget. Budget cuts are being made
in order to present the finance council with a balanced budget for their
approval.
“Like many other organizations, the archdiocese has
experienced a reduction in revenues, including investment income from endowment
funds. The [Archdiocesan Catholic Center’s] fixed operational costs,
however, have continued to increase, resulting in an annual budget deficit.
Over the past two years, reserve funds have been tapped in order to finance the
operation of the archdiocesan administrative offices.”
He continued, “Having to lay off employees is very painful.
Our employees are hard working and dedicated to the mission of the church. They
are also our co-workers and friends. During employee meetings, archdiocesan
leadership has discussed the budget shortfall and the possible ramifications
for the [Archdiocesan Catholic Center]. By way of general information,
severance packages, job assistance and counseling will be made available to
those who are being laid off.”
In response to questions about sexual abuse and the $3.6 million
in settlements the archdiocese has paid out since 1985, Tamberg said, “It
is not possible to determine liability in the future, but certainly such
contingencies must be examined and planned for. Nevertheless, it is the
underperformance of the capital markets and increased operating costs -- not
the sexual abuse crisis -- that is the proximate cause of the current
cutbacks.”
Discussing the cost of the cathedral, he said, “The majority
of the fundraising for the new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels took place
in the 1990s, before the capital market downturn. The fundraising for the
cathedral was separate from archdiocesan development efforts. No parish or
school funds were used to fund the cathedral project’s total cost of $189
million.
“The total cost of the project included financing of loans
and the cost of the land upon which the cathedral complex was built. The
cardinal announced at the dedication Sept. 2 that the entire amount had been
fully funded,” Tamberg said.
Cathedral employees are paid from cathedral funds, not
archdiocesan funds, he said.
Employees said there are ways the archdiocese could find the funds
to keep the chancery offices functioning. Said one, “Sell property, and at
the same time fix one of the problems we’re having with our priests: their
lack of maturity.
“Why are we isolating seminarians at St. John, which is prime
property, when we could send them to Loyola Marymount [University], or anywhere
else? Let them be with women, with men, let them mature,” said the
employee. “If they have a vocation they’ll keep it, and be more
mature for it.” The seminary is an impressive, many acre,
multimillion-dollar ocean view property in Camarillo, close to Santa
Barbara.
The circulating letter combined concern for the impact of lost
jobs on employees and on outreach to those who most need the church ministries.
It states that it was the archdiocesan leaders’ responsibility “to
put a fraction of the energy they put into fundraising for the cathedral into
fundraising for the works of the church. That building is a sign, and it needs
the substantive ministries of the church to ground it with a valid commitment
to those in need.”
The letter continues, “There ought to be a solid, extensive
campaign to raise funds during this crisis. If they could raise $200 million,
they ought to be able to raise $4 million. They certainly have the contacts and
skills. The first people fired should be the Enron PR firm. That is such an
embarrassment.”
Mahony has on call a $350-an-hour consultant to help decide
tactics in dealing with the media during the continuing clerical sex abuse
scandal.
“Prove it to us,” said one employee. “They
won’t open the books -- no. The laity is screaming for that, but
there’s no volunteering it. This is our church. What are they doing to it?
People are afraid. Their hearts are with the gospel, and unfortunately the
church is not reflecting that.”
An employee letter states, “On the various floors of this
building … a lot of folks deeply committed to a faithful vision of service
[in] this top-heavy organization … seem pretty demoralized.”
At two glitzy social affairs Sept. 7 on the Cathedral Plaza,
Mahony raised $2.2 million for cathedral programs. On Sept. 16, the entire
campus ministry department of the Los Angeles archdiocese was abolished and the
detention ministry cut by 50 percent.
Arthur Jones is NCR editor at large. His e-mail address
is arthurjones@attbi.com
National Catholic Reporter, September 27,
2002
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