NONPROFIT NEWS & COMMENT STORY OF THE DAY – AUGUST 17, 2012
by Peter Dobkin Hall on August 17, 2012
This week, we begin a new feature: the day’s most interesting and important story on nonprofits from the world’s media. For a full survey of media coverage of topics relating to nonprofits, philanthropy, volunteering, and civil society, go to the Hauser Center’s news blog, Nonprofit News & Comment.
Today’s story from The Economist surveys the current financial disarray in the Catholic Church in the United States.
“Earthly concerns: The Catholic church in America; The Catholic church is as big as any company in America. Bankruptcy cases have shed some light on its finances and their mismanagement.” The Economist. August 18, 2012.
Of all the organisations that serve America’s poor, few do more good work than the Catholic church: its schools and hospitals provide a lifeline for millions. Yet even taking these virtues into account, the finances of the Catholic church in America are an unholy mess. The sins involved in its book-keeping are not as vivid or grotesque as those on display in the various sexual-abuse cases that have cost the American church more than $3 billion so far; but the financial mismanagement and questionable business practices would have seen widespread resignations at the top of any other public institution.
The sexual-abuse scandals of the past 20 years have brought shame to the church around the world. In America they have also brought financial strains. By studying court documents in bankruptcy cases, examining public records, requesting documents from local, state and federal governments, as well as talking to priests and bishops confidentially, The Economist has sought to quantify the damage.
NONPROFIT NEWS & COMMENT STORY OF THE DAY – AUGUST 17, 2012
by Peter Dobkin Hall on August 17, 2012
This week, we begin a new feature: the day’s most interesting and important story on nonprofits from the world’s media. For a full survey of media coverage of topics relating to nonprofits, philanthropy, volunteering, and civil society, go to the Hauser Center’s news blog, Nonprofit News & Comment.
Today’s story from The Economist surveys the current financial disarray in the Catholic Church in the United States.
“Earthly concerns: The Catholic church in America; The Catholic church is as big as any company in America. Bankruptcy cases have shed some light on its finances and their mismanagement.” The Economist. August 18, 2012.
Of all the organisations that serve America’s poor, few do more good work than the Catholic church: its schools and hospitals provide a lifeline for millions. Yet even taking these virtues into account, the finances of the Catholic church in America are an unholy mess. The sins involved in its book-keeping are not as vivid or grotesque as those on display in the various sexual-abuse cases that have cost the American church more than $3 billion so far; but the financial mismanagement and questionable business practices would have seen widespread resignations at the top of any other public institution.
The sexual-abuse scandals of the past 20 years have brought shame to the church around the world. In America they have also brought financial strains. By studying court documents in bankruptcy cases, examining public records, requesting documents from local, state and federal governments, as well as talking to priests and bishops confidentially, The Economist has sought to quantify the damage.