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Catholic schools know no boundaries From the Mission District of San Francisco to a remote Mayan village in Guatemala, Catholic schools are giving us something to celebrate: "deep faith life , a spirit of community that is intentional and formative , and a commitment to academic excellence, " in the words of a guest editorial by Sister Glenn Anne McPhee, Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese , on Page 12. Pictured above are children from the village of Patzun who have a new school , staffed by Carmelite sisters and built with the help of a member of St. Rita Parish, Fairfax. Page 11 At the left are leaders of the restoration of St. Charles Borromeo School in the Mission District: Pictured are (from left) John Moriarty benefactor, Sally Cowan, assistant principal, Dominicans of the Holy Rosary of the Philippines Sister Nelia Pernecia, principal, and Rhet Devlin, volunteer contractor.
More stories on Catholic schools are on Pages 7 through 11.
Catholic Charities cuts costs, moves to pay off $2.6 million debt By Patrick Joyce
A he new leadershi p of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of San Francisco is cutting expenses, reviewing all its programs and declaring a moratorium on new programs as it battles to overcome $2.6 million of indebtedness built up under a management team that resigned under fire last year. "We promised candor and accountability in our last letter. " Brian Cahill , interim executive director of Catholic Charities , said . "So we are obligated to tell everything. The bad news is $2.6 million of indebtedness. The good
news is that we have a plan to pay it off. This is manageable. It can be fixed. " Cahill spoke about the status of Catholic Charities in an interview with Catholic San Francisco and in a letter sent this week to supporters of the agency. In a letter last September, Cahill had apologized for the fiscal abuses of the past and promised to keep supporters informed of the progress of reforms at Catholic Charities. The indebtedness was one of the preliminary findings of the annual independent audit of Catholic Charities ' previous fiscal year. "This is painful," Cahill said. "But we're blessed in a number of ways: we have a payment plan, high quality programs and the generosity of our donors. Our Christmas
appeal was very successful, beyond our expectations. That shows our donors are sticking with us. They know the value of our programs." Not only does Catholic Charities plan to pay off the $2.6 million but it is also working to avoid indebtedness in the future, Cahill said. He pointed out that lines of credit were secured so the agency could pay its own bills while waiting to be reimbursed by funding agencies. In part, he said, that was understandable, he said. "With $14 million in contracts outstanding, there is a lag time from point of service to payment — $2 million at any time, " Cahill said. "Unfortunately," he said, "these outside lines of credit were used not just to meet working capital needs, but to fund some expansion." CATHOLIC CHARITIES, page 6