“(Margaret) Roylance (VOTF Finance Working Group chair) recommended that laypeople look up their dioceses’ financial transparency scores in the table at the end of the report. If a diocese has a low score or has recently lost a significant number of points, this can be a sign of trouble, she said.” (National Catholic Reporter)
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“More U.S. dioceses published audited financial documents in 2020 than before, but more than a quarter still did not publish any audited financial reports, according to an annual financial transparency report by the lay organization Voice of the Faithful.
“About 70% of dioceses posted audited financial reports on their websites in 2020, up from 65% in 2019 and from 56% in 2017, according to the review.
“Margaret Roylance, chair of the organization’s finance working group, said she was heartened to see that many dioceses published these reports on time despite delays due to COVID-19.
“‘We felt that financial transparency was beating COVID and that made us feel good,’ she said.
“On the other hand, 6% of dioceses posted only unaudited reports, and 24% posted no reports at all.
“The report, released in November, surveys the financial practices of all 177 dioceses that belong to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It scores dioceses’ financial transparency practices on a scale from 0 to 100.”
By Madeleine Davison, National Catholic Reporter — Read more …
Voice of the Faithful ® 