Dec. 11, 2020 Catholic News Service WASHINGTON The signals were clear at the start of the pandemic. No Masses, no offertory income. No offertory income, nothing to assess by the diocese. Nothing in the diocese to assess, reduced revenue to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. And what is true at the parish level is also true for all types of Catholic institutions. From what I ve heard, it s bad, but it s not as bad as people thought it was going to be in the beginning, said Patrick Markey, executive director of the Diocesan Financial Management Conference in Phoenix. The parishes aren t getting direct donations from the people. The dioceses rely on the parishes to support them. The (bishops ) conference relies on the dioceses to support it, Markey said.
.This illustration depicts money going into a collection basket. (CNS illustration/Emily Thompson) .Yelixa Hernandez, a member of the Hispanic youth group, helps collect donations during Mass at St. Willebrord Church in Green Bay, Wis., April 26, 2015. (CNS photo/Sam Lucero, The Compass) .Sister Romana Uzodimma, a Sister of the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus, places onions into a man s bag at Catholic Charities Spanish Catholic Center parking lot in Washington July 15, 2020, where he is picking up free food supplies. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington has served hundreds of thousands of meals to people in need across all of its food programs. (CNS photo/Chaz Muth)
The Tablet December 11, 2020
Sister Romana Uzodimma, a Sister of the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus, places onions into a man’s bag at Catholic Charities’ Spanish Catholic Center parking lot in Washington July 15, 2020, where he is picking up free food supplies. (Photo: CNS/Chaz Muth)
By Mark Pattison
WASHINGTON (CNS) The signals were clear at the start of the pandemic. No Masses, no offertory income. No offertory income, nothing to assess by the diocese. Nothing in the diocese to assess, reduced revenue to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
And what is true at the parish level is also true for all types of Catholic institutions.