Archdiocese, Curia register surplus despite increasing expenses
● Rise in expenditure attributed to increase in employment
The Archbishop’s Curia has registered a surplus of €752,000 while the Archdiocese registered an operating deficit of €107,291, it was announced yesterday morning during the presentation of the Archdiocese’s financial report for 2016.
The surplus will be distributed to various Church entities that carry out social and charitable work in the form on subsidies.
The deficit was offset by unrealised gains and capital gains on investment which allowed the Archdiocese to show a net result for the year of €1,141,190.
Speaking to The Malta Independent, administrative secretary Michael Pace Ross said the deficit was minimal and was practically at break even when considering that the income was at €36.1 million, while expenditure was at €36.2 million following an increase of €3.4 million.
The increase in expenditure was attributed to the increase of employment (the Archdiocese currently employs more than 1,400 individuals) and other operational costs within entities such as homes for children and the elderly, which went from surpluses of €11,000 and €85,000, to deficits of €35,000 and €209,000 respectively.
“In homes for the elderly and for children we do not look at financial figures, we look at the care offered to the residents,” Pace Ross said.
He also explained that the subsidies received from the Curia were able to offset the substantial changes.
The report also noted that donations received increased substantially last year allowing the Archdiocese’s income to increase by 1.83 million to 36.11 million in spite of “income from collections and fundraising proving challenging.”
Pace Ross revealed that environmentally friendly initiatives, such as the installation of photovoltaic panels, in around 30 parishes have begun to yield financial benefits.
The restoration of buildings owned by the Archdiocese is also high on the agenda, after the Cultural Heritage Foundation, which was established last year, submitted applications for European funds to be allocated to 17 different projects, such as the Archives of the Archbishop’s Curia.