Ad hoc committee recommends annual audits for all parishes

Published: 2007-11-13

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- A report by the U.S. bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Diocesan Audits recommends annual reporting by every parish as well as exercising a degree of caution about the tradition of presuming church employees view their work as ministry and do not need oversight. Such a "trusting environment" can be exploited by a dishonest worker, it said. "While the vast majority of our pastors, parish finance councils and staff does excellent work in managing very limited resources to the maximum advantage, we have all seen reports of occasional financial mismanagement in parishes," said Bishop Daniel F. Walsh of Santa Rosa, Calif., chairman of the committee. Bishop Walsh reported on the work of the ad hoc committee on the first day of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' annual fall general meeting Nov. 12-15 in Baltimore.

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