Cardinal Blase J. Cupich has told the pastor of St. John Henry Newman Parish in Evanston, Rev. Kenneth J. Anderson, to step away from overseeing the parish’s finances while the Archdiocese of Chicago digs into what it calls “serious concerns” about how the money is being managed. The shift, laid out this week in a letter to parish leaders, hands short‑term control of the books to another pastor and has rattled school families and parishioners already living with a multi‑year budget shortfall.
Cardinal orders financial review
In a letter sent last Monday, Cardinal Cupich said the archdiocese has launched a review and asked Father Anderson to step back from administrative duties tied to parish finances, according to the Chicago Tribune. The letter names Pastor Wayne Watts of Wilmette to temporarily oversee St. John Henry Newman’s internal financial administration while the inquiry unfolds and specifies that Father Anderson will keep his other pastoral responsibilities during that period. The correspondence does not spell out the particular issues that triggered the review.
Deficits, appeals and who handles the money
Parish records show the merged St. John Henry Newman has been running in the red since its formation, including a roughly $329,000 deficit in its first full year after the merger and ongoing gaps in the 2023–24 budget that led to a “Balance Our Budget” appeal to parishioners, according to the parish bulletin. Those campaigns repeatedly asked parishioners to help plug operating shortfalls tied to lower Sunday offertory collections. The bulletin also lists staff roles such as a business manager and an operations director as the positions that historically handled bookkeeping and day‑to‑day financial administration, responsibilities that are now under a microscope. St. John Henry Newman parish bulletin
Staff shakeup and parish unease
Father Anderson informed parishioners last summer that business manager Donna Borman and operations director Natalie Hennigan had resigned, a change that parish leaders say left gaps in oversight and stirred internal worries. An open letter from finance‑council members last year warned that Sunday collections were expected to fall short, and parish emails over the past year asked congregants for targeted donations to keep up with operating expenses. The archdiocese’s decision to remove Anderson from financial duties, reported by the Chicago Tribune, has renewed calls from some parishioners for clearer accounting and quicker, more detailed communication from leadership.
Merger backstory and what happens next
The parish was created under the archdiocese’s Renew My Church initiative when St. Athanasius and St. Joan of Arc combined to form St. John Henry Newman. Archdiocesan materials note that The Academy at St. Joan of Arc operates as an independent Catholic school with its own governing board, a setup that shapes how school and parish finances are kept distinct. The Archdiocese of Chicago says the current review will be handled internally with oversight from episcopal staff, and parish leaders have told congregants they will share updates as the process moves forward. For now, Masses and school operations are expected to continue while the archdiocese completes its financial review.
