BOSTON, Mass., April 30, 2025 ― Voice of the Faithful, a Catholic Lay Apostolate committed to promoting transparency in Church operations, has published its 2024 diocesan financial and governance transparency reports. This is the eighth year VOTF has reviewed all USCCB dioceses for their online financial transparency and its third review of lay involvement in church governance through the Diocesan Finance Council (DFC). Although ten U.S. dioceses received a perfect score of 100% on the 2024 financial transparency review, the average overall 2024 transparency score remained unchanged from 71% in 2023 to 71% in 2024. The overall governance score increased from 34% in 2023 to 35% in 2024.
VOTF’s 2024 diocesan financial transparency review of all 176 dioceses comprising the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops was conducted from June 1 to August 31, 2024, by three independent reviewers. The 2024 governance review by two reviewers began on March 15, 2024, and concluded on May 15, 2024. The reports are “Measuring and Ranking Diocesan Online Financial Transparency: 2024 Report,” and “Lay Involvement in Church Governance Through the Diocesan Finance Council: 2024 Report.” These and all previous VOTF reports on diocesan online financial and governance transparency can be read by clicking here.
Financial Transparency
The top ten dioceses in our 2024 Financial Transparency study, each of which received a score of 100%, are the Dioceses of Belleville, IL; of Charleston, SC; of Erie, PA; the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas; the Dioceses of Lexington, KY; of Orlando, FL; of Pittsburgh, PA; of Rochester, NY; of Scranton, PA and of Youngstown, OH. These dioceses and archdioceses are to be commended for their commitment to transparency and for maintaining clear and informative diocesan websites.
Six dioceses had large gains in financial transparency scores in 2024. They are the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, NM, with an increase of 50 points; the Dioceses of Steubenville, OH, with a 48-point increase; of Lubbock, TX, with a 43-point increase; of St. Cloud, MN, with 30; of Baton Rouge, LA, with 29; and of Nashville, TN, with 28.
We especially commend the Diocese of Steubenville for their efforts. Steubenville has been among the lowest scoring dioceses since the first financial transparency review in 2017. Steubenville’s transparency score increased dramatically under an Apostolic Administrator who was appointed in May 2023. It is clear from this, and many other instances we have observed over the last eight years, that personal leadership by the diocesan bishop or ordinary is most important for diocesan financial transparency.
Although many dioceses achieved significant increases in their financial transparency scores in 2024, others lagged behind their 2023 performance. This was often due to out-of-date audited diocesan financial reports, DFC members lists, or other key financial information posted on the website. These dioceses have demonstrated a desire to share financial information, but failed to provide it in a timely fashion. “VOTF considers posting current audited financial statements to be the hallmark of diocesan financial transparency, but ensuring that the current report is available for diocesan faithful on the website is essential for transparency.” said VOTF trustee Margaret Roylance, and Finance Working Group chair.
Information can disappear from diocesan websites as a result of a website redesign, but in the 2024 financial transparency review, most dioceses lost credit when important financial information simply went missing from their websites. It is impossible to determine if these changes were intentional and made to hide information the dioceses chose not to share publicly, or if they were due to some website problem.
In the case of the Archdiocese of New York, the webpage containing a link to the archdiocesan financial summary disappeared. Although New York has not posted an audited financial report since 2017 when this review began, its financial summary was always a good source of financial information. That summary also included the diocesan finance council list and information about parish assessments. As a result of its disappearance, New York lost twenty-five points between 2023 and 2024 and received a 2024 score of 12 points. This was the lowest score of any diocese in the U.S.C.C.B.
Governance
The top six dioceses in the 2024 governance review received grades of 95% or 100%. They are the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, the Dioceses of Rochester, NY, of Youngstown, OH, of Lexington, KY, of Memphis, TN, and the Archdiocese of Seattle, WA. All six are outstanding examples of transparency in financial governance. Significant increases in some diocesan scores offset by large drops in other dioceses occurred in the 2024 governance review as well as in the financial transparency review.
Thirteen dioceses achieved significant increases in their governance score in 2024. They are the Archdiocese of Denver, CO, with an increase of 63 points; the Dioceses of Salina, KS, with 58; of Lubbock, TX, with 45; of Kalamazoo, MI, with 41; of Baton Rouge, LA, with 38; the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, WI, with 37; the Dioceses of Joliet, IL, with 35; of Providence, RI, with 30; the Archdiocese of Boston, MA, with 18; the Dioceses of Little Rock, AR, with 18; of Corpus Christi, TX, with 15; and of Great Falls-Billings, MT, with 16.
Conclusions
High-transparency dioceses tend to increase their scores over time, reflecting a commitment to transparency. Other dioceses make no progress or fall backward. It appears that the leadership of these lower scoring dioceses have decided that sharing financial or governance information with lay members of their dioceses is not a priority. VOTF congratulates those dioceses that led the way in transparency and accountability in 2024 and those that made significant gains this year as well.
Transparency, in both finances and governance, must be one key element of an open response by the Church to survivors of clerical sexual abuse. It will also be essential in rebuilding the trust of U.S. Catholics in our diocesan leadership. If the extent of the financial settlements made by bishops to hide clerical sexual abuse had become known through transparent financial reporting when the abuse reports started breaking long before 2002, lay Catholics would have been aware that the abuse was not a rare exception, but widespread.
We continue to be gratified by the dedication of most dioceses to making sure Catholics have up-to-date information on how their contributions are being used, and we remain committed to working for transparency throughout the Church. Such transparency can enhance lay stewardship, promote generosity, and build trust in the leadership of the Catholic Church nationwide.
Voice of the Faithful®: Voice of the Faithful’s® mission is to provide a prayerful voice, attentive to the Spirit, through which the Faithful can actively participate in the governance and guidance of the Catholic Church. More information is at www.votf.org.
Voice of the Faithful Statement, Apr 30, 2025, contact office@votf.org, (781) 559-3360