Facing $17 million deficit, Archdiocese closes youth office, newspaper

By David O’Reilly, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: June 22, 2012

Citing a projected deficit of $17 million for the new fiscal year, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput on Thursday announced a massive restructuring that will include the immediate closure of the archdiocesan youth office and the monthly newspaper, as well as the layoffs of about 45 employees.

The archdiocese has 244 full-time employees at its headquarters in Center City.

The restructuring will shutter the Office of Youth and Young Adults, which operates the CYO sports program, and end publication of The Catholic Standard & Times, and a new monthly magazine, Phaith.

CYO activities will continue "virtually unchanged" but will be administered out of the archdiocese's Office of Education, according archdiocesan spokeswoman Donna Farrell. However, Camp Overbrook, a summer program for children ages 6 to 12, will not open this season.

Many of the operations of the Office of Youth and Young Adults will be handled by the education office or the Office for Catechetical Formation.

Earlier this month Chaput, announced that the cost of responding to the 2011 grand jury report on clergy sex abuse had exceeded $11.6 million.

Farrell said, however, that the shortfall projected for the 2012-2013 fiscal year, which begins July 1, is "structural" and unrelated to the cost of investigating sex abuse allegations or the defense of Monsignor William J. Lynn, who is awaiting the outcome of a lengthy trial on child endangerment charges.

Contact David O'Reilly at 610-313-8111 or doreilly@phillynews.com.

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