Ash Wednesday – How the Catholic Church is Structured and Funded
Today is Ash Wednesday for Catholics. It marks the beginning of the 40-day Lenten season.
A good day to briefly look at how the Catholic Church is funded and structured.
Hierarchy:
- The Pope, located in Vatican City, is on top
- Below him are the dioceses, such as the Archdiocese of Boston
- Each diocese is headed by a Cardinal or Bishop
- Below the dioceses are the local parishes
The Money Flow:
- The “Vatican” actually consists of two entities both headed by the Pope
- The Holy See is the central church government
- The Vatican City State is the sovereign country
The Holy See’s $1.3B annual budget is funded by:
- Investment Income (35%)
- Real Estate Income (25%)
- A “tax” on the dioceses (20%)
- The annual Peter’s Pence collection funded by church goers (10%)
- Donations (10%)
The Vatican City State’s $1B annual budget is funded by:
- Vatican Museum admission fees (60%)
- Tourism and retail activity (20%)
- Post Office and stamp sales (10%)
- Other (10%)
The annual budget of the entire US Catholic Church system is about $200B.
The dioceses are funded mostly by:
- A “tax” on the parishes (largest revenue source)
- The Annual Appeal to the parishioners (significant source)
- Investments, cemetery systems, real estate, etc. (smaller sources)
The local parishes are funded mostly by:
- Investment Income (35%)
- Real Estate Income (25%)
- A “tax” on the dioceses (20%)
The US Catholic Church corporate legal structure:
- The dioceses are either:
- A nonprofit corporation
- A nonprofit corporation sole
The parishes are either:
- A nonprofit corporation (independent from the diocese)
- Part of diocese’s corporation sole (mainly CA and MA)
Bottom Line:
The Catholic Church is theologically unified but legally decentralized.
Footnote:
The Catholic Church, under the Pope, consists of the Latin Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches. About 99% of Catholics belong to the Latin Church. The Eastern Catholic Churches consist of 23 distinct self-governing churches, including the Maronite, Melkite and Ukrainian Churches.
The Eastern Catholic Churches do not observe Ash Wednesday. They begin Lent a few days earlier on Ash Monday, instead.
The Orthodox Church (not part of the Catholic Church) begins their Great Lent on Clean Monday, typically the following week from Ash Monday and Ash Wednesday. (edited)