September 16, 2009

Detroit Archdiocese, losing $42,000 a day, announces restructuring

DETROIT (CNS)—A major financial restructuring plan for the Archdiocese of Detroit, which is losing approximately $42,000 per day, calls for a 29 percent decrease in the number of employees, the sale of buildings, moving administrative support offices to a more cost-efficient property in the city, and the elimination of the subsidy for The Michigan Catholic, the archdiocesan newspaper. The six-county archdiocese will be reorganized into four regions for the delivery of programs, services and ministries to its 1.4 million Catholics under the restructuring plan announced Sept. 3 by Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron. The archbishop, who was installed Jan. 28, said he had accepted the restructuring recommendations from two separate committees, comprised of laypeople and clergy, following a six-month study on the financial viability of the archdiocese. “The financial realities of our current circumstances are sobering; the resulting changes for the administrative structure of the archdiocese are significant,” he said. In addition to a decrease from 264 to 187 employees, other changes include the elimination of the subsidy for programming at the Retreat Center at St. John’s, the sale of the Print Shop building and the outsourcing of studio productions for the Catholic Television Network of Detroit.