Roman Catholic Church in Crisis

Not only is there a moral crisis, but a financial one as well.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - First came the sex scandal. Then there were lawsuits. Now there are bankruptcies.

And some economic analysts believe this could be just the beginning of the financial fallout from widespread charges of clerical sexual abuse within the U.S. Catholic Church.

...The question is how to pay for it.

"Even without the sex abuse scandal, the Catholic Church was in deep financial difficulty," said Charles Zech, an economics professor at Villanova University who monitors church finances.

Zech said the church's money troubles include the costs of deferred maintenance on church properties, the aging of its low-cost work force of priests and nuns and its disproportionate holdings in real estate -- often run-down inner-city buildings that are hard to sell.

Frank Butler, president of a group of major donors to Catholic institutions, said the problems may go deeper.

"Many of the archdioceses are very marginal operations, and the reason for that is they have a very aging infrastructure that includes the parishes and schools," Butler said from the Washington-based Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities, known as FADICA.

In addition, American Catholics give less per person to their individual churches than Protestants or Jews do, Butler said, adding that those who do give are getting older.

"Their donor base would seem to be shrinking," he said.

Added to these long-term problems are expected payments that could total billions of dollars nationally to victims of priest sexual abuse.