This article is from page 9 of the 2014-03-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 9 JPG
PRIESTS in the Killaloe Diocese contribute more than € 74,000 from their own personal resources to fund the running of the diocese in 2012.
The payout comes as parish donations to the diocese dropped for the second consecutive year forcing priests to dip into their own pockets to keep the diocese afloat.
According to the diocesan accounts for 2012, which were released last week, contributions from Killaloe’s 58 parishes were down 2.5 per cent in 2012.
This comes on the back of a 4.3 per cent fall in donation in the previous year.
It is not clear from the accounts how much was donated by each priest, or if each priest donated the same amount, but it is understood that the current basic salary for a priest in the diocese stands at € 22,000 and rises to just € 27,240 after a number of years of service.
The figures reveal that in 2012 parish donations totalled € 742,000, while in 2010, the figure was € 795,000. Bishop O’Reilly expressed concern at the year on year fall as these parish donations form the most significant proportion of diocesan income.
Despite the drop in donations from individual parishes, the overall financial situation of the diocese was positive with the Killaloe Diocese recording a net surplus of € 162,750 for 2012, when gross income for property and other investment portfolios were taken into consideration.
While the diocese’s overall accounts have shown surpluses in recent years, this has only been possible because of the additional contributions from Killaloe’s priests and donations and bequests.
“Such generosity cannot be taken for granted or predicted in future years,” said Bishop O’Reilly.
The contributions from priests was also supplement by a bequest of € 54,000 but even that sum is a massive drop from the nearly € 152,000 the diocese received in 2011 from such gifts.