Church management organization shares its progress with bishops

Published: 2007-11-20

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Leaders of an organization working to bring better financial and management practices to church operations shared their progress with more than three dozen Catholic bishops Nov. 13 during a luncheon reception at the bishops' fall general meeting in Baltimore. The National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management, established in July 2005, has published three "Standards for Excellence" booklets outlining codes of ethics and accountability for Catholic dioceses, parishes and nonprofit organizations and has partnered with the Archdiocese of New Orleans to help restore Catholic schools following Hurricane Katrina. "We have been able to reopen 86 of the 106 schools" in operation before the hurricane, including seven regional schools in the areas most devastated by the 2005 disaster, said Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes of New Orleans. Because so many New Orleans public schools still remain closed, he added, "70 percent of our students after Katrina are not Catholic; most come from families living below the poverty level."

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