The Archdiocese of Philadelphia on Monday reported a $1.7 million core operating loss in the year ended June 30, up from a comparable figure of $300,000 the year before, but the church’s Office for Financial Services said it made significant progress on fulfilling long-term obligations, writes Harold Brubaker for philly.com. 

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Besides establishing a surplus in priests’ retirement plans, the central office for financial matters said the deficit in the lay employees retirement plan fell to $111 million on June 30, down from $185 million the year before, thanks to a $30 million contribution in December 2016 from Catholic Health Care Services and other Catholic entities.

In a commentary on the fiscal 2017 financial results, Timothy O’Shaughnessy, chief financial officer for the archdiocese, said savings from fully funding the priests’ pension and an increase in assessments paid by parishes “should allow us to achieve break-even operating results in the near-term.”

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput’s financial restructuring of the archdiocese started in fiscal 2012 with a $17.6 million operating deficit and $354.4 million in long-term liabilities for a self-insurance fund, pensions, and a deposit-and-loan program — essentially a private bank for parishes and other archdiocesan entities — that had been used to fund shortfalls under Cardinal Justin Rigali.

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