Affluent Parishes Help Out Poor Ones

At the St. Camillus Catholic Center for Pastoral Care near County-USC Medical Center, nine chaplains minister to patients and families.

At St. Malachy’s Church in South-Central Los Angeles, five nuns offer religious education and help lead groups of parents and couples. At the parish school, tuition is kept well below its actual $2,000 cost.

These services are the result of a 9-year-old program in the Catholic Church’s Los Angeles Archdiocese, in which funds from richer parishes help keep poorer ones afloat.

Together in Mission, which collects money from all the archdiocese’s 290 parishes, plans to distribute nearly $13 million in subsidies this year to 33 parishes and 44 Catholic elementary schools. The money will pay for construction and maintenance projects, teacher salaries and tuition subsidies.

“People have really realized they’re responsible for other parishes,” said Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, who started the program as archbishop of Los Angeles in 1993. “People can identify with the parishes. All you have to do is help connect people with broader needs.”

Without the program’s assistance in poor parishes, “it would be impossible to run any kind of school with teachers that are qualified,” said Sister Joan Faraone, assistant superintendent of administration for the archdiocese’s schools.

Many dioceses across the country have similar programs, said Tod Tamberg, archdiocese spokesman. In Orange County, for example, Catholics in 59 parishes and chapels last year donated more than $8.8 million to aid specific churches, more than doubling their diocese’s goal of $3.8 million.

The Los Angeles donation program asks each parish to make contributions equal to a tenth of the money its members contributed in offerings during the previous year. This means 2002 goals range anywhere from $894 (the small Immaculate Conception in New Cuyama in Santa Barbara County) to almost $178,000 (St. Monica’s in Santa Monica). Almost all the parishes--278 of 290 in 2001--meet or exceed their goals, church officials say.

“Our people, although they are poor, they are very generous,” said Father Antonio Ruiz, pastor of St. Vincent’s Church in South-Central Los Angeles, where members pledged nearly $32,000 last year, about 44% more than the parish goal of $22,197. “Outside of their poverty they have a little to share.”

Since St. Vincent’s parish school is funded through the program, “the people feel they can give.... It is to their advantage, because the money comes back to us,” Ruiz said. “When you tell them it’s helping their own school, it hits the target. They open their pockets with greater generosity.”

Debra Duncan, 47, is not a member of Ruiz’s church but happened to be attending on the Sunday the donation drive began in late January. “It seems more real that you can help people here in your community,” she said. “They need it.”

Diana Barnes, 41, of Glendale, sends her sons, Adam and Travis, to St. Bede the Venerable Elementary School in La Canada Flintridge. Tuition is higher there--$3,000 a year--and the affluence of the parish means subsidies are not needed. “It’s expected to share with the community,” Barnes said.

Churches are rewarded for their generosity. After a parish meets its pledge goal, half of any other donations are returned to the parish. More than $905,000 was returned to parishes last year.

Between 85% and 99% of the students in the 44 subsidized schools are poor enough to be eligible for free or reduced-price federal lunch programs, which cover private and church schools as well as public ones.

At San Miguel School in Watts, a $20,000 subsidy pays for utilities and teacher salaries, said Principal Jesus Vazquez. Still, some essentials, such as Internet access, are impossible. The school has no library and no air conditioning.

St. Malachy’s School uses its $140,000 subsidy for operating costs and teacher salaries. With the subsidy, the school can keep tuition at $1,350 a year for a family’s first child and $500 for each additional one.

St. Malachy’s Church receives another $30,000 from Together in Mission that it uses to pay some of the $1,000-a-month salaries of five sisters from the Missionaries of Jesus Crucified in Guadalajara, said Father William Bonner, pastor. The sisters help with pastoral work by leading religious groups and training leaders, as well as organizing the choir.

St. Odilia’s Church in South-Central also uses its subsidy for adult education and catechism classes.

“Our collection just isn’t enough to cover our expenses,” said Father Dan Sylvain, associate pastor. “Our population is continually growing. It’s always a challenge to keep growing and tend to the needs of our parish.”

Together in Mission also provides 90% of the funding for the St. Camillus Center for Pastoral Care, including the chapel, offices and stipends of the nine chaplains at County-USC Medical Center and two other USC-run hospitals.

“It was a conscious decision by the cardinal to put professional chaplains in the hospitals which serve the poor,” said Father Chris Ponnet, pastor at St. Camillus.

Each chaplain sees 40 or 50 patients a day, and they are usually more seriously ill and stay longer than patients in other hospitals, he said.