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Catholic Church: with confinement, dioceses under financial pressure

2020-06-14T01:27:24.445Z


With the cessation of resources linked to masses, a dozen dioceses, already in structural difficulty for several years, risk finding themselves in the red.


" You cannot serve God and Money," warns Jesus in the Gospels. Wise words for a parish priest ... But oh so much more difficult for a bursar, this lay person charged with administering the finances of a diocese in the Catholic Church.

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In France, the Church does not live on real estate or financial resources, but mainly on donations from the faithful. However, the confinement and cessation of masses have deprived the parishes of their main resources. So much so that the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF) is preparing to launch an unprecedented call for donations campaign, from June 13 to 28, via a dedicated platform.

“55% of the resources could not be collected for a month and a half. This makes a hole of 10 to 15% of the annual budget, which amounts to 53 million euros ”.

Ambroise Laurent, treasurer of the CEF

55% of the resources could not be collected for a month and a half. This makes a hole of 10 to 15% of the annual budget, which amounts to 53 million euros ” , details the Figaro Ambroise Laurent, treasurer of the CEF. This call for donations, he explains, should make it possible to catch up on the usual receipts that could not be collected during confinement: quests, mass offerings, casuals (baptism costs, marriage, funeral). Nationally, Ambroise Laurent does not say he is worried. But at the local level, the confinement increased the tension on certain dioceses which had already faced, for several years, a fragile structural situation. " Thirty dioceses will be in difficulty if they do not act now, including a dozen already tense which will end up in the red if we do not catch the situation," he alarmed.

Property sale

In recent times, the question of selling real estate has therefore gained ground in the Diocese of Troyes, as a solution. The peculiarity of our diocese is that we are in rural areas, with many people to serve: therefore more than elsewhere, our expenditure on infrastructure and operations is significant, with scattered buildings and many trips » , Confides the diocesan economist Thierry Colin. On this territory, the reserves have been progressively depleted over ten years, currently reaching a deficit of 700,000 euros. In particular, the costly maintenance of real estate is at stake: “ We faced new regulations on accessibility and energy, which forced us to do a lot of work. Others are planned over the next 10 years. ”

From then on, Thierry Colin and his team began to think about the sale of parish halls or presbyteries. But the idea must have been difficult to accept at the parish level, first concerned: " People who had a room available at 1km will now have to do 10km. For the presbyteries, grouping priests means forcing them to travel more kilometers to serve the parishes, which is not without consequences, especially among the elderly. ”

A fragile balance

This crisis situation throws a harsh light on the difficult financial balance that all the dioceses of France are struggling to find in reality: “ Structurally, the dioceses have burdens greater than their resources in 90% of the cases, admits Ambroise Laurent . It is legacies and sales that bring balance back. ”

Pascal Andréani, diocesan treasurer in Avignon, makes the same observation: “ This is a long-term problem, linked to an operation based for decades on the exceptional receipts that are legacies. However, legacies drying up in recent years, this puts us in difficulty . " Here, we have an operating deficit of around 1 million euros per year, made up by 1 to 3 million euros in legacies that no longer exist today ," he sighs. For three, four years, we have drawn on the reserves. Here we come to the end .

Non-renewed contracts

The administrator had to carry out an emergency rescue operation. In Avignon, we have 120 priests, which is enormous. So we decided not to renew the contract for ten priests who came from abroad, ” confesses Pascal Andréani. In the longer term, a real estate rationalization study was launched eight months ago: “ We realize that we are not good. For example, in a parish of four small villages with a total of 10,000 inhabitants, 12 catechism rooms are available for ... fifteen children. ” " We have centralized everything in one village ," continues the diocesan economist. Likewise, we sold a presbytery. Today, we have five sales in progress - including three houses bequeathed. However, we will not touch our churches. ”

In Avignon, we have 120 priests. We therefore decided not to renew the contract of ten priests who came from abroad.

Pascal Andréani

In Montauban, who arrived at his post in early 2019, the treasurer Christian Ecarnot discovers a catastrophic situation: "There was an operating deficit which endangered the financial existence of the diocesan association". Here too, we must act urgently, and in a drastic way: “ What had not been done for ten years, we did it in one year. We have cut our workforce by half. ” Nine employees are laid off. " It was done in pain, but sometimes the time is necessary." In parallel, a property rationalization plan has also been launched, investment projects postponed or canceled. These measures coupled with the financial boost from the national clergy foundation - special aid dedicated to dioceses in difficulty - the deficit could be reduced by 80%.

2008 crisis and financial investments

In reality, there is no “typical profile” of the diocese in financial difficulty. Thus, a small rural diocese with few real estate resources can find itself in the red as much as a large diocese employing a large number of lay employees, or facing significant real estate charges, as is the case in Saint- Denis.

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The diocese of Créteil, for its part, has the distinction of owning 80% of its real estate, unlike most other dioceses of France whose churches, presbyteries and other real estate dated before 1905 have become, according to the law of separation State and church property. In Créteil, no less than 80 churches, presbyteries and parish houses were built after 1905, becoming the property of the diocese. However, these real estate holdings represent a significant share of expenses for the diocese (25% - against 60%, however, the salaries of the priests and the salary of the laity employed by the diocese.)

In 2014 - 2015, Créteil faced a complicated situation linked not, this time, to the decline in bequests, but to the " low remuneration of financial investments" , confides to us its diocesan treasurer Philippe Guyard. " The dioceses had taken the habit of not balancing their current operations, because the income from their financial investments compensated for the lack of ordinary resources, he explains. But after the 2008 crisis, guaranteed capital investments, recommended for the Church, gradually saw their income fall until they became very low. We had to start using the reserves… ”

This phenomenon was accentuated by the need to conduct a real estate renovation and modernization program for its real estate. The reserve has melted ... And the diocese has found itself in the red. To reduce its deficit, Créteil also had to take a series of measures over five years: globalization of purchases of all parishes (electricity, gas, insurance), non-renewal of contracts of certain employees, sale of some real estate. The diocese was also able to count on the interdiocesan solidarity established in the Paris region. In 2014, we had a deficit of almost two million euros. In 2019, this deficit was at 169,000 euros. It has been reduced by almost 95%, ” welcomes Philippe Guyard.

0 rate loan in extremis

But in mid-March 2020, the confinement came to disturb the short thinning of the Cristolian sky ... No more quest, no more Mass offerings, "nothing left in the trunks" (to pay for the tapers or chapel lights), " we lost practically three months of collections, which increased the cash flow, ” deplores the bursar. With these two months "without turnover" , the diocese feared losing 600,000 euros of resources out of the usual 10 million collected per year. And in the short term, the diocese almost saw red: " We had no more cash to last until the end of June and spend the summer ," blows Philippe Guyard. So I took out a state guaranteed 0 rate loan that allows me to spend the summer. I could have sold financial investments, but with the fall in the stock market due to the Covid-19, they have lost a lot of value… ”

In Avignon, during the confinement period, 35,000 euros of quest were collected, against… 300,000 euros usually

Interdiocesan solidarity

The cessation of masses also energized the diocese of Avignon, which had just recovered from its rescue operation: during the period of confinement, 35,000 euros in quest were collected, against… 300,000 euros usually. To complete the budget by the end of the year, " our bishop launched an appeal for interdiocesan solidarity in the Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur region," says Pascal Andréani. " In the worst-case scenario, bank loans will not be used to secure real estate for sale - without touching our churches."

Same concern on the side of Troyes, which has only recovered 14,000 euros in quest over two months, against " at least 50,000 euros and even much more with the big Palm and Easter celebrations , " according to Thierry Colin. In Montauban, parish losses are estimated at around 100,000 euros, or 25% of the quests for the year. But thanks to the 2019 rescue plan, Christian Ecarnot says he is confident: “ Fortunately, these structural reforms were implemented last year. This year we couldn't have done it . Same serenity on the side of the diocese of Poitiers, where a major work of real estate and salary rationalization was carried out in 2014, to fill a deficit of one million euros. “This allowed us to have a good year 2019, with the help of legacies and financial products. Good results which allowed us to absorb the confinement ” , welcomes Thierry Seguin, diocesan treasurer . All is therefore not black for the future of the steeples of France. For many dioceses, the cessation of “physical” quests was also an opportunity to further anchor the use of online questing. As of December 31, 2019, we were collecting 1% of donations via the application. Four months later, it's 10%, ” says Thierry Seguin.

Today, while the trend for donations, legacies and financial investments is still on the decline, there is no longer any question of doing "as before". Containment may have served as the last warning to review the budgetary strategy. The average age of donors is quite high. The problem now is to target people in the 50-70 age group, ” says Philippe Guyard. However, this population of former sixty-eight is often more difficult to approach. " In all of the calls for donations that the faithful receive at the end of the year, the challenge is to stand out, to show the uniqueness of our message: the Church is not an NGO."

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-06-14

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