Boston: 2/3 of Catholic Parishes Can't Pay Their Bills

“The financial consequences of the suspension of Masses has been dramatic and onerous,” Terry Donilon, spokesperson for the archdiocese, said in a statement on Wednesday. “While some number of our parishes were struggling financially before the virus and had been borrowing from the Archdiocese to make ends meet, a much larger number of parishes is now suffering from the sharp decline in donations.”

Donilon’s statement came after Boston Archbishop Cardinal Sean O’Malley suggested last week during an online web conference that parishes may want to consider merging to make up for financial shortfalls brought on by the pandemic.

Donilon stressed that no parishes are being forced to merge.

“The Archdiocese is working with parishes to prevent a situation where they are forced to close their worship sites because they can’t pay a utility bill or are confronted with a major repair essential to safe operations such as a blown boiler, that they cannot fund,” he said.