Open thread: Is the recession coming soon to a diocese near you?

The Church is not exempt from the financial strain of the times, as the Diocese of Madison shows us:

"Closing the [Catholic Multicultural center in Madison, WI] is just one result of a drop in investment income due to the recession, [diocesan spokesman William] Yallaly said. As he spoke, several of his colleagues at the diocese’s headquarters were being told their jobs were eliminated, he said.

Yallaly did not know how many of the staff of about 60 would be laid off. Those who remain will take pay and benefits cuts.

In a letter to staff, Bishop Robert Morlino called the cuts “terribly difficult, but increasingly necessary.” Morlino was in Washington, D.C., Thursday at a Catholic symposium.

In March, the diocese made a direct, voluntary pitch to parishioners to step up their annual giving to the diocese from $3.2 million to $5.9 million, an 84 percent increase...

Yallaly said the diocese will disclose the appeal’s outcome in early summer. Parishioners have been “extremely generous,” he said. Yet “we knew we couldn’t expect an incredible outpouring. People just don’t have the money.”

Closing the center was “the very last thing anyone in the diocese would want to do,” said Yallaly, adding that the diocese will try to find other ways to help the center’s clients." (Wisconsin State Journal)

Has your diocese or parish been effected by the recession?

When times are tough and we are forced to re-evaluate our spending, let's try to deny ourselves some things first before we deny the Church and our fellow Catholics. Those who give out of their want (not their surplus), give twice. If not much more.