To the editor:
Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati is facilitating an audit of the finances of the Diocese of Steubenville with the assistance of chief financial officers from the dioceses of Cincinnati, Columbus and Youngstown. With that in mind, it is important to revisit a financial issue of major concern regarding the cathedral renovation project that was canceled in May 2022 by Bishop Jeffrey Monforton.
The audit firm Schneider Downs conducted a separate audit of the cathedral funds in 2018. In a Sept. 24, 2020, WTOV-TV interview referencing the audit, Dino Orsatti, director of communications for the diocese, said "no irregularities were found" regarding the cathedral renovation donations. He said, "we found all the money that was collected for the cathedral was used for the cathedral."
On Nov. 25, 2013, in the Herald-Star, Monforton said he had 75 percent ($3.75 million) of the $5 million needed for the cathedral project. Since 2013 additional donations, grants and interest on that money would be factored into the total until May, when Monforton canceled the project.
In the May 18 edition of the Herald-Star, Monforton said "unrestricted funds intended to be used as leverage for cathedral construction were almost entirely depleted." The diocese paid $3.5 million to the government. Monforton said he had $3.75 million in cathedral donations in 2013 so why wasn't a small portion of those unrestricted funds leveraged to complete what was then a $5 million cathedral renovation project? That was more than four years before the crimes were allegedly discovered in the chancery.
In the Herald-Star Oct. 22, 2017, Orsatti said "the diocese has already spent $1 million on infrastructure outside of the cathedral." He said "we will be seeking an additional $9 million for the remaining renovation work". In that article, Yarman Contracting of Cadiz received a permit from the city's building department for the $9.7 million project. That's a total project cost of $10.7 million, which is more than double the original projected cost in 2013 and more than the projected cost of a new cathedral in 2012.
Monforton told The Pillar on Oct. 18 that the "cathedral's cathedral square project cost the diocese more than $1 million in unrestricted funds." Why were unrestricted funds used instead of the cathedral renovation restricted funds? The diocese has not cited any renovation expense with the millions of dollars in restricted cathedral funds.
In the May 18 edition of the Herald-Star, Monforton said "to attempt to raise the $4 million dollars necessary to reopen the cathedral is simply unrealistic for a number of reasons." The project cost was $10.7 million in 2017. Doesn't that mean the diocese had at least $6.7 million in cathedral renovation funds in May 2022?
Do you really believe the diocese's statement regarding the audit of cathedral funds in 2020 that "we found all the money that was collected for the cathedral was used for the cathedral?" Look at the facts and you decide.
Frank Krajovic
Woodstock, Ga.