Jason Berry ties the church’s financial problem to the autonomy of Bishops.  In his book, he focuses on dioceses in Boston, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Cleveland. The Cleveland connection starts with former Bishop Anthony Pilla who retired in 2006. Berry credits Pilla as a visionary for his “Church in the City” program which bolsters poor inter-city parishes with connections to suburban parishes. But he also cites the tax fraud and bribery convictions of Pilla’s chief financial officer Joseph Smith and accountant Anton Zgoznic. And Berry says poor financial management undermined the successes.

Berry:  “In a financial sense, he ran the diocese as a fiefdom. The trials of Zgoznic and Joseph Smith exposed so much of the way in which Pilla and Father John Rice ran their respective departments is really, in a sense, a kind of case study of how bishops do not function with oversight. They report to no one but themselves, and I think that is one of the great flaws in how the church, in a financial sense, is governed today.”

And Berry contends that Pilla’s replacement, Bishop Richard Lennon of Boston, has continued on the same path.

Berry:  “In Cleveland he inherited a diocese that was much stronger financially. Cleveland Catholic Charities with $92 million is in a sense the most successful or best endowed Catholic charity in the United States. The role of diocese in keep urban parishes, especially in poor neighborhoods alive has become collateral damage to the widespread closure program he instituted. None of this was done with the kind of consultation that one would expect when an infrastructure begins to shrink this way. (Niedermier) ‘You talked about downsizing, what do you see as the future of the Catholic Church?’  The church is undergoing a major shift. A parish has closed on average once a week for the past 15 years.  As I say, very few dioceses have fully audited financial statements that they post, and the impact of the abuse crisis is such that many dioceses have had to severely curtail their services. Boston, case in point, has actually sold parishes, liquidating churches as assets.  I think until there is some kind of honest relationship that is forged systemically between bishops and parishioners and financial councilors, an element of trust will be missing.” 

Cleveland Diocesan spokesman Bob Tayak has read Berry’s book. He calls it one-sided, and argues with the author’s portrayal of Lennon and Pilla.

Tayak:  Bishop Pilla at that time when the extra step of full transparency and a report to the community that began under his tenure to layout the finances. What happened in that particular scandal has happened in corporate American and many other places, it’s simply that a bond of trust was violated. It’s hard to understand where Mr. Berry is coming from.”

And Tayak disputes Berry’s claim that Bishop Lennon’s parish closing of four dozen Cleveland and Akron parishes have hurt the Church in the City program. He says the downsizing has strengthened the overall diocese, including inner-city parishes.