The Chicago Sun Times found this photo of the Pope at the 2005 World Series for ChiSox vs Astros
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one of my former professors wrote back to also share the Pope was inducted into the Pi Mu Epsilon math honor society while on campus. So for those of you who were in your university’s chapter of the same…you also have that in common
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How U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops exorcised American church’s pension problems
Summary
With the election of the new Pope Leo XIV, Pensions & Investments reviewed the financial standing of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ $64 million pension plan.
The USCCB is the central body in the U.S. that coordinates and supports the ministry of the various bishops and clergy throughout the country and helps coordinate charitable activities in the U.S. and abroad.
Under the Catholic Church’s legal code, or canon law, bishops have some authority and responsibility over the financial functions in the regions they serve. This includes the pope, who is the bishop of Rome.
Over the past several years, the Vatican’s dire pension funding status has started to emerge.
Pope Leo XIV and Vatican officials have responsibility over the pension plan’s future. There is very little external oversight or transparency as the Vatican has almost complete autonomy as its own nation-state.
Troubles in 2012
The USCCB’s pension fund was in similar trouble in 2012 when falling interest rates helped drive the funding ratio of the USCCB’s pension plan, which covers the organization’s lay employees, to 51.6%.
According to the organization’s 2012 financial statement, with that poor funding ratio as a backdrop, “In 2012, the Executive Committee approved an amendment to the plan to freeze benefit accruals as of December 31, 2013 for all current employees. This plan amendment resulted in a curtailment gain of $6,593,949 in fiscal year 2012.”
The yearly average employer contributions to the pension plan from 2010 to 2023 were $2.2 million. In 2014 and 2013, employer contributions were $4 million and $3.8 million respectively.
After years of employer contributions and market gains, the $64 million pension plan now has an 85.9% funding ratio. As of Dec. 31, 2023, the latest available information, the funded status stood at -$10.5 million, which means their liabilities exceeded their assets by $10.5 million.
This is in stark contrast to a $46.5 million deficit in 2012.
The discount rate for the pension fund hit a low of 2.31% in 2020 following market developments from the pandemic.
The decline in discount rate ballooned liabilities to $107 million. With an increase in interest rates to 4.7% in 2023, liabilities fell to $74 million. Assumed rates of returns have been cut three times since 2010 to 6% from 8%.
Asset allocation
Since at least 2010, the asset allocation of the USCCB’s investments have been steady.
Roughly, the plan has maintained a 60% equity/40% bond allocation. One measurable change was reducing home-country equity bias, with non-U.S. equity allocations rising significantly in 2023 and 2016, and now are approximately market weights.
The notes to the financial statements specifically state the pension plan’s investments are “managed by independent investment managers in accordance with stated investment policies and subject to USCCB’s socially responsible investment guidelines.”
Estimated investment returns have been roughly the same as broad market benchmarks. Based on the financial statements, the one-, three-, five- and 10-year returns were 14.7%, 0.9%, 7.0% and 5.9%, respectively, for periods ended Dec. 31, 2023.
The USCCB did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
USCCB financials are here:
okay, non-Catholics may find this interesting… esp since we have so many Chicago area folks here
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holy moley, after decades they’re changing the Vatican’s website design!
This new pope is a radical!
Let’s sing with the Pope!
naw, only for Jansenists
Fulton Sheen jokes
Corpus Christi!
My parish is still planning on doing the annual Corpus Christi procession, despite the predicted scary high heat and humidity.
I’m guessing some people here would like to know where that restaurant that paid the $1000 is.
No Raisins? 