Leadership Rountable

CLIFTON  With input from three prominent Catholics who live, work and worship in the Diocese, the Leadership Roundtable has published a new report that offers key recommendations on finances, governance and accountability to national Church leadership, dioceses, parishes and Catholic organizations.

The 52-page report, “We are the Body of Christ: Creating a Culture of Co-Responsible Leadership,” was issued earlier this month by the Leadership Roundtable, which in July also celebrates 15 years of service, partnerships, and commitment to promoting best practices and accountability in the Catholic Church through a greater incorporation of the expertise and skill of the laity.

The Leadership Roundtable’s report was done in an effort to spark a national conversation on how to create a culture of co-responsible leadership in the Church in the U.S. These suggestions, the organization asserts, can help the Church address the multiple challenges it faces, such as the financial crisis worsened by the coronavirus pandemic.

Each year, it brings together cardinals, archbishops, bishops with laity who are leaders from various sectors, including the Church on both the national and diocesan levels; non-profits; business, especially finance; and Catholic education, for its Catholic Partnership Summit to address pressing issues that face the Church. Then the Roundtable releases a report of their recommendations.

Held in February, this year’s summit in Washington, D.C. drew 260 leaders, including Kevin Carton, a Leadership board member, who worships at Holy Family Parish in Florham Park. He is a member of the board of advisers for Equilibrium Stock Exchange LLC. Also participating was Michael Brough, the Leadership Roundtable’s deputy director who belongs to St. Patrick Parish in Chatham. Another board member, Thomas Healey, founder and managing partner at Healey Development LLC, who worships at Christ the King Parish in New Vernon, was unable to attend due to illness, but joined in discussions before and after the event.

“The report gives actionable recommendations about temporal issues that are facing the Church — things that we could be doing to become more effective in ministry. They urge clergy and laity to work together in decisions about finances and governing at both the diocesan and parish levels. This is long overdue,” said Brough, noting that the Church needs to address serious issues including the financial crisis exacerbated by COVID-19 that will affect the Church’s ability to minister and serve local communities. “We brought together people with expertise in service to the Church to suggest best practices that promote accountability and prudent stewardship of the Church’s resources,” he said.

The report comes at an opportune time as almost half of Catholic dioceses in the U.S. have eliminated or are considering eliminating some diocesan programs, as well as closing some financially-strapped elementary and secondary schools, since the coronavirus pandemic began, according to a recent survey. It also found that 17 percent of dioceses have furloughed or laid off diocesan staff, Brough said.

“Whether you look at the more than 20 dioceses that have filed for bankruptcy, or the recent stories of financial malfeasance perpetrated by certain diocesan leaders, many Catholics are deeply concerned about the future of the Church,” said Geno Fernandez, Leadership Roundtable board co-chair, who commended Catholic leaders for establishing strong policies and accountability measures for addressing sexual abuse and its cover-up. “Now the Church needs national standards for financial management and co-responsible governance where professionally competent and mission-driven lay people work hand-in-hand with clergy. This partnership will create a healthy culture of leadership and ensure our ability to minister to and serve local communities across the country,” he said.

The report’s many recommendations include creating a governance reform working group, similar to the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, to produce a plan for reforming Church governance structures. Among the suggestions is the development of national standards for financial management, established as particular law for the United States, together with an annual, publicly shared audit process that would set norms for financial policies and practices, the report states.

Healey, who joined the Leadership Roundtable when it was founded in 2004, expressed optimism about the recommendations in its latest report.

“It’s chock full of great ideas. Now parishes must prioritize them and implement [given their situation],” said Healey, a member of Christ the King’s finance council and a major benefactor of St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangeliza­tion in Madison; diocesan Catholic Charities, which honored him with the Caritas Award in 2012; and Tri-County Scholarship Fund, which gave him its Hall of Fame Award in 2011.

To the Leadership Roundtable, Healey comes with extensive business and financial expertise having served as senior director of Goldman Sachs & Co. and as head of Cor­porate Finance for Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. In government, Healey served as former assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury for domestic finance under President Reagan in the 1980s; on the U.S. Department of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Council in the 1990s, and on the federal Securities Industry Protection Corporation as director.

In the Diocese, Healey helped implement the Leadership Roundtable’s “A Pastor’s Toolbox for Pastoral Management,” a weeklong program for seminarians, new priests and experienced pastors to teach them how to manage and lead a parish. He also has been working with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Roundtable on new standards for reporting and accountability to keep children safe.

Having joined the Leadership Round­table in 2013, Carton previously worked for Unio Capital LLC as lead director of and chair of its audit committee and more recently as a member of its board of advisers. Before that, he served as a board member and chair of the audit committee for Russell Reynolds Associates where he also served on the executive committee. For 16 years, Carton also served on the Board of Directors for Good Shepherd Services, an organization that reaches out to young people in New York City, according to his resume.

A native of Scotland, Brough, who has served on St. Patrick’s pastoral council and a committee that planned for the reopening of the church after the lifting of state social restrictions, began his career as an educator in Catholic high schools and for Caritas Scot­land. Previously, he was executive director of RENEW International, a parish renewal and evangelization process. Over his 26 years of professional ministry in the Catholic Church, he has worked with and trained lay ecclesial ministers, priests and bishops in dioceses and parishes across the United States and in 13 different countries. He has also served as a consultant to Catholic nonprofits, boards, foundations and other institutions.

Another supporter of the Leadership Roundtable in the Diocese has been Msgr. James Mahoney, diocesan vicar general and moderator of the Curia and pastor emeritus of Corpus Christi Parish, Chatham Town­ship. In the past, he has participated in some of the summits and brought back many of the organization’s suggestions to the Diocese. Over the years, the Roundtable has worked with Catholic schools in the Diocese and diocesan Catholic Charities, Brough said.

“With the Leadership Roundtable, I’m honored to contribute to the improvement of the running of dioceses and parishes around the U.S.,” Healey said.