Church financial worries must be addressed

A particularly striking element in the Archdiocese’s financial and pastoral report for 2010, which shows a loss of €1,750,000, is that the greatest imbalance with respect to expenses is registered within the collections made in parishes and other donations, which dropped by €651,000.

This reality must be very worrying for the Archdiocese, especially when one considers it in the framework of last year’s report, which showed that the Church had, in the future, to focus on securing better help from its members. The message was loud and clear: For the Church to continue to be as effective at a pastoral and social level as it has been, it was necessary that its members commit themselves to provide their service and support to the Church in every possible way, including through financial means. Yet, one year on, the situation appears to have become even more worrying.

Last year’s warning was that the reserve accumulated over the years was about to finish and the Curia’s administrative secretary had forecast a situation in which the Church would “have huge problems to meet expenses”. It has now emerged that the Archdiocese’s reserve assets have been eroded and the Church was having to eat into its capital assets, which is far from easy considering that many of the properties the Church has in its hands have to be used for charitable purposes and could not be sold.

The challenge appears to be enormous, also because costs are increasing, not least to maintain churches and other buildings in line with present-day requirements and standards.

The Archdiocese admits that “the greatest problem is that the Church has reached a point where there are not enough funds to cater for all the commitments which the Church has and any other new projects which it wishes to embark upon.” This in spite of the commitment of several people, mostly volunteers, who regularly place at the service of the Church, free of charge, their time, energy and talents.

Church administrators are rightly highlighting the fact that the Church in Malta has always been on the forefront with respect to pastoral work among those who find themselves in difficulty and in need. It has set up several institutions that have pioneered essential services. In these efforts, the Church has invested much energy, time, human and material resources. It has also provided financial aid. However, none of this charitable work could have been undertaken and cannot be sustained without the vital generous contribution of the people.

In the circumstances, the Archdiocese has to, hand on heart, seek to identify the basic reasons behind the deteriorating financial situation it is facing, starting with establishing what is changing or is going wrong, particularly with regard to collections in parishes and other donations. Is it because fewer people are going to church? Is it because of the impact of certain demoralising experiences of one nature or other? Is it because people are not only finding it difficult to accept or follow certain Church teachings but are also losing trust in today’s type of leadership? Is it a mixture of these and/or other matters?

The Church in Malta stands to benefit from a professional exercise aimed at addressing the problems in a fresh, holistic and effective manner. The aim would be to regenerate sufficient confidence among the people to ensure that the Church has the required financial support to be able to go ahead with all its sterling work and services.