Denver's Catholic Foundation and Its Implications
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Sat Jun 26, 2010 at 02:35:03 PM EST
Many US Catholic dioceses have affilitated foundations - separately incorporated religious non-profits - to make additional funds available to the bishop at a time of dwindling "Sunday collections" and to shelter assets from lawsuits against the diocese. These foundations are eligible for the same tax and nondisclosure benefits available to all religious organization in the US - contributions are tax deductible, earnings such as investment income are tax exempt, no financial reporting is required, no disclosure of where the money comes from or where it goes is necessary.
Within a year after being named Archbishop of Denver in 1997, Charles Chaput formed such a foundation. According Chaput's weekly newspaper, the Denver Catholic Register (DCR), its purpose was "to create a mechanism to receive major gifts, transactions and endowments" and "to support Archbishop Chaput's larger developmental issues for the Church in northern Colorado." In November 1999, Chaput opened the first meeting of The Catholic Foundation's board of trustees. It was announced at the time that the Foundation had assets totaling $19.5 million "the majority of which were transferred from investments and properties held by the Archdiocese of Denver."

In addition to complete confidentiality, the Foundation also offers its contributors tax benefits not available from othe