KDKA Investigates: Catholic Diocese Of Pittsburgh's Fiscal Crisis Puts Squeeze On Catholic Schools
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh continues to be set back by financial troubles.
The diocese is moving ahead with merging parishes as church attendance declines.
But many catholic schools are also in financial trouble.
In past decades, the number of students in the diocese has fallen from a combined 23,000 to 16,00 in all of its six counties.
And fewer students means fewer schools.
Over the same period, 36 of 108 elementary schools have closed their doors.
Just this past summer, nearby St. Sylvester's in Brentwood shut down, forcing Lea Kirchner and the parents of 38 other students to move their kids into St. Elizabeth.
"It was a heartache for everyone involved," Kirchner said.
But it's a decision more and more parents will need to make.
Since the release of the shocking grand jury report on clergy sex abuse, mass attendance and donations are down.
And the number of expected claims filed against the victim's compensation fund was more than expected
To avoid bankruptcy, Bishop David Zubik said the diocese can no longer afford to prop up financially struggling schools and has issued a new dictate: operate in the black or face closure.
"Prove you can do this or you're proving you can't stay in operation," Zubik said.
Diocesan schools in the North Hills have already regionalized and those in the city of Pittsburgh and the eastern suburbs are in the process -- recently closing St. Raphael's in Morningside and St. Agnes in West Mifflin.
Now an advisory council made up of staff and lay leaders eyes 13 elementary schools in the South Hills.
The diocese said the closings are not necessarily a bad thing.
Merging two or more struggling schools can make one great regional school.
Diocesan Secretary for Education and Evangelization Anna Torrance said regional planning could put those schools on firm footing for decades to come.
"We have to reenvision our Catholic schools," Torrance said. "And yes, there are challenges, but there is such opportunity here," Torrance said.
If the diocese can do a better job of promoting the worth of a catholic school, more may avoid closure.
"As the elementary schools merge into more vibrant schools, where more academic resources would be available to the children, parents would keep their kids in the Catholic school environment," Kirchner said.
The diocese also said academics and a foundation of faith are more needed than ever in these changing ties.
"The main element of pooling kids into our school would be that Catholic tradition, that Catholic faith. Teaching the morals and the values of what it means to be a Christian individual," said Leslie Krueger, principal of St. Elizabeth.
