In my blog of July 18th, I had written about trying to make the financial dealings of the religion institutions more transparent by incorporating them. Because of the wealth these institutions have accumulated over the centuries, there is a lot of misuse or abuse by the minders.
The Economist dated August 18th,2012 has a three page section on the financial mismanagement by the Catholic Church in the United States - the fourth largest in the world after Brazil,Mexico and the Philippines. While it mentions the good which the Church does, including running 6,800 schools,630 hospitals and 244 colleges and universities,it describes how parishes have been closed, or declared bankrupt. It goes into details about how funds raised for specific purposes have been diverted to other uses, including defending the predatory priests, or for other purposes.
I am sure that the Catholic Church in the United States is not the only institution . As mentioned in my earlier blog, numerous religious institutions in other countries have been found equally guilty. The reason why the misdeeds of the Church have come to light is because of the openness of the American legal system. Now if the other countries were to follow the example I am sure that hundreds, if not thousands,of similar cases will emerge not just for the Catholic Church but other religious institutions as well.
Interestingly enough the same article mentioned that the Catholic Church is now resorting to the municipal bond market to raise funds. These issues are presently guaranteed by banks, so I assume that they have had to reveal their financial affairs to the bank, but more likely they have probably provided some collateral to the institution.
So perhaps one can hope that the next step will be the incorporation of these religious bodies. These will then make them more transparent and a lot of their assets will be put to productive use.It is unlikely that this will happen, but there is nothing to stop you from dreaming.
The Economist dated August 18th,2012 has a three page section on the financial mismanagement by the Catholic Church in the United States - the fourth largest in the world after Brazil,Mexico and the Philippines. While it mentions the good which the Church does, including running 6,800 schools,630 hospitals and 244 colleges and universities,it describes how parishes have been closed, or declared bankrupt. It goes into details about how funds raised for specific purposes have been diverted to other uses, including defending the predatory priests, or for other purposes.
I am sure that the Catholic Church in the United States is not the only institution . As mentioned in my earlier blog, numerous religious institutions in other countries have been found equally guilty. The reason why the misdeeds of the Church have come to light is because of the openness of the American legal system. Now if the other countries were to follow the example I am sure that hundreds, if not thousands,of similar cases will emerge not just for the Catholic Church but other religious institutions as well.
Interestingly enough the same article mentioned that the Catholic Church is now resorting to the municipal bond market to raise funds. These issues are presently guaranteed by banks, so I assume that they have had to reveal their financial affairs to the bank, but more likely they have probably provided some collateral to the institution.
So perhaps one can hope that the next step will be the incorporation of these religious bodies. These will then make them more transparent and a lot of their assets will be put to productive use.It is unlikely that this will happen, but there is nothing to stop you from dreaming.
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