The finances of the Plymouth Diocese were a prime focus of the October 2009 meeting of the Diocesan Pastoral Council (DPC). Bishop Christopher, writing in the December DPC Newsletter, says: "For the first time since its inception the Diocesan Pastoral Council had a session on Diocesan Finances. The management of our finances is a far more complex matter than when I first came to the Diocese. The financial resources have always been well administered, thank God, and I am very grateful to those who have gone before us and took so much care in building up reserves. They are currently being administered in exemplary fashion by John Cunningham and his colleagues."

"However, new regulations from the Charity Commission and HM Customs and Revenue have made the operation more complex. We have many staff at Rosary House and are well served by them. All our material goods must ultimately be about mission. It is not the main aim of the Diocese to balance its books, but good stewardship requires us to do so. Our main aim is about mission, to enable people to live their Christian faith and to share it with both confidence and realism."

"In my recent report to the Holy See, I have gathered together what is happening in the Diocese within the framework of our vision statement. The mission that Christ has left us is one that requires us to be a celebrating, learning, caring and living church. Our material resources must allow us to make that possible. Ultimately our use of our resources will be judged against those features of our mission."

To read the Newsletter in full, please click on the attachments below.