ROCKVILLE CENTRE — “In order to ensure the financial health of the Diocese,” in Bishop William Murphy’s words, the Diocese of Rockville Centre has announced plans to shepherd a number of changes designed to enable the Church on Long Island to “continue its vital religious and social ministries well into the future,” the bishop said.

The changes include a “voluntary separation” severance package; a “structured employee evaluation and management program”; and a “shared services arrangement” whereby the diocese will assume responsibility, under contract, for many services currently provided by parishes or other entities.

Demands for the Church’s ministries have increased as Long Islanders struggle amid the current economic crisis, Bishop Murphy noted in his letter in the January 13 TLIC.

Yet, “Generous as you have been and continue to be,” the bishop wrote, “today the expenses associated with the ministries and services we provide our parishioners and the greater Long Island community exceed … donations.”

“Today, our Church as a whole faces growing and unprecedented challenges,” said Sean Dolan, director of communications. “Among the factors that have precipitated these challenges are: a steady decrease in Mass attendance over the past ten years; a steady decrease in Mass offertory contributions; and demographic shifts in the communities we serve. We know that close to 100 parishes in the Diocese of Rockville Centre have operating deficits and parishes that had cash reserves only a few years ago are now tapping those same reserves to pay employees and subsidize their schools.”

“Every part of our Church is grappling with investment losses incurred during the recent financial crisis; reduced savings and capital; dramatically increasing payroll, healthcare and pension expenses; and increasing building maintenance expenses on aging infrastructure.”

Thus, Dolan said, “difficult, yet necessary steps” must be taken “to manage the challenges faced by the Church.”

Among those steps is the “Voluntary Separation Program” (VSP) whereby employees whose combined age and years of service total 65 or more – approximately 1,800 of the 6,000 people employed by many of the entities that comprise the Church on Long Island — may receive a salary-based severance package upon their voluntary termination of employment.

According to a Q and A fact sheet distributed to employees by the diocesan Office of Communications, eligible employees with less than 10 years of service who take the severance package will receive 6 months salary; those with 10-15 years of service will receive 7 months salary; 15-20 years, 8 months salary; and those who have served the Church for 20 years or more will receive the maximum amount, 9 months salary.

Each eligible employee in parishes and schools will have all the VSP information and election forms delivered to them by the end of this week by a member of a diocesan team. Anyone out from work when the packages are delivered will receive it in the mail.

Employee evaluations
While details of the “Performance Management Program” will be announced in the future, it “is being implemented to retain and hire the most talented available employees best positioned to achieve the Church’s mission now and in the future,” Dolan said.

Key features, he explained, will include better aligning staff to responsibilities, testing the skills and verifying the qualifications of employees, establishing job titles, qualifications and salary ranges, setting performance expectations and standards for each employee, and establishing a merit-based salary increase structure.

Asked by TLIC whether those eligible for the VSP should be influenced in their decision by any likelihood that their jobs might be eliminated later, following the employee evaluations, Dolan said, “No. The VSP should be evaluated on its own merits.

“While job eliminations can never be predicted with certainty,” he said, “there is no plan to eliminate the jobs of VSP-eligible employees.”

Addressing the general question of whether jobs might be jeopardized by the planned evaluations and reorganization, Dolan said that while no layoffs are planned, “all employees at the diocese corporation and at the parish corporations and other entities should understand the challenging economic times in which we all live, and that ways of strengthening financial position and achieving operating efficiency are being explored and will continue to be explored. It is not impossible that some jobs may be affected.”

Responding to questions about why some employees first learned of the changes in Newsday, Dolan emphasized that “numerous meetings” had been held to inform pastors, principals, DREs and others about the financial condition of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, the parish corporations and other entities, and the steps that are being planned to address that condition.

The VSP was spoken about, he said, and “we were planning to inform employees first during this first week of February. Unfortunately, the rumor mill reached the desks of Newsday and News12 before we could communicate to employees and parishioners. This was certainly not our intent. We are working day and night,” he stressed, “to provide factual information to employees and parishioners.”
Dolan encouraged people to visit the special transition site by going to the diocesan Web site (DRVC.org) and clicking on the Lighthouse icon.

Strengthening ministries
By establishing a Diocesan Shared Services Center, the diocese expects to perform operating functions in a more efficient and cost-effective manner, Dolan said, while strengthening financial discipline and operating controls.

The Diocese of Rockville Centre consists of more than 200 entities, including parishes and schools, Catholic Charities, parish outreach and prison ministry programs, the seminary, communications outlets such as Telecare and The Long Island Catholic, and Catholic cemeteries.

The Church’s five main areas of service, are pastoral, including liturgy and the sacraments; education; Catholic Charities and parish outreach; priestly and religious vocations; and faith formation.

The changes now being made, Dolan said, are designed to assure that the Church on Long Island, its ministries and services, can continue to thrive well into the future.

“We must turn” the current challenges “into a better and healthier tomorrow for the diocese, the parishes, and you and me as pastors of the people we serve and love,” Bishop Murphy wrote in a letter to pastors last Friday.