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Corporate Governance in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lipa: A Study of Practices in the

Local Church

A Concept Paper
Presented to the Faculty of the
College of Business, Economics, Accountancy and Management
De La Salle Lipa

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN ACCOUNTANCY

By:
Cosa, John Kenneth A.
Gomez, Mattheus Lurenz A.
Mistas, Kim Angelo

July 2015

Area of Study
Corporate governance
Background of the study
Religious and other non-profit organizations have a responsibility to their various
constituents and members to be fiscally responsible and transparent in carrying out their
missions. These organizations rely on the public for a significant portion of their annual budget.
Support is received by nonprofit organizations in the form of tithes, pledges or donations. The
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lipa, the district of the Catholic Church in the province of
Batangas, has 61 parishes and 229 priests serving the 96% Catholic faithful in the whole
province according to the statistics of the Catholic Hierarchy (2014). Added to this, pastoral work
cannot be accomplished without the different commissions assisting in the total well-being of
every Catholic faithful in the local Church.
Statement of the Problem
Financial transparency is essential in non-profit organizations that they may establish
corporate governance to their members. Also, it was a call by Pope Francis that financial
transparency and accountability be established in all dioceses and congregations as to his
reforms in the Vatican. As a religious institution, the Archdiocese of Lipa should jumpstart
corporate governance as a role model of integrity, objectivity, transparency and financial
accountability for its members.
Objectives of the Study
1. Analyze the internal control system, fiscal oversight and financial management of the
Archdiocesan Curia.
2. Identify problems in the financial policies and systems of the Archdiocesan Curia.
3. Promote financial transparency to all parishes and commissions of the Archdiocese of
Lipa by providing suggestions to new policies and reforms.
Hypotheses
H1: The Archdiocese of Lipa does not promote corporate governance with regards to her
financial standing.
H2: The Archdiocese of Lipa is not financially accountable for financial transparency is
not established among parishes and commissions.

Literature Review
Elson, OCallaghan and Walker (2007) researched on Corporate Governance in
Religious Organizations: A Study of Current Practices in the Local Church. The study addressed
corporate governance practices in religious organizations by examining fiscal oversight and
financial management practices in the local church. Fiscal oversight includes the existence of an
independent board of directors with a financial expert and documented policies and procedures.
Financial management includes the existence and use of a budget, controls over cash receipts
and disbursements, financial reporting and tax reporting and compliance. A questionnaire was
used to collect data from various denominations. The results showed that churches do have
adequate fiscal oversight and financial management controls. However, opportunity exists for
improvement. Churches can do a better job of documenting their policies and procedures. In
addition, they should communicate these policies and procedures to all employees. It also
appears that church accounting personnel do not really know the requirements for preparing
financial reports using generally accepted accounting principles. These personnel should
consider attending a nonprofit course or seminar to increase their understanding of accounting
standards relating to nonprofit reporting, especially Statement of Financial Accounting
Standards No. 116, "Accounting for Contributions Received and Contributions Made" and
Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 117, "Financial Statements of Not-for-Profit
Organizations."
Theoretical Framework
Parishes
Commission
s
Curia/Chanc
ery

Fiscal
oversight
Archdiocese
of Lipa

Financial
Managemen
t

Financial
accountabili
ty

Proposed Research Design, Methods/ Procedures


The researchers shall adapt the questionnaire of Elson, OCallaghan and Walker but will
only be applicable to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lipa. The questionnaires shall be
spread all throughout the parishes, commissions and to the Archdiocesan Chancery. Contents

of the questionnaires shall be categorized into two main sections, fiscal oversight and financial
management. The statistical results shall then be interpreted by the researchers.
References
Catholic Hierarchy. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dlipa.html
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS: A STUDY OF CURRENT
PRACTICES IN THE LOCAL CHURCH: EBSCOhost. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=80803bf6-56fd-446b-96e0b7fbf786f717%40sessionmgr4004&vid=2&hid=4209&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d
%3d#db=bth&AN=32473887

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