The Central Minnesota Catholic recently interviewed several members of the task force appointed last summer by Bishop Patrick Neary, C.S.C., to address the significant underfunding of the lay employee pension plan administered by Christian Brothers Services. The interview, conducted April 7 at the Chancery in St. Cloud, focused on the group’s ongoing work to address the issue. It has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: For people who have only heard bits and pieces regarding the issues with the Christian Brothers Retirement Savings Plan, can you explain briefly what the problem is and how it has affected people in our diocese?
Bishop Neary: This difficult news came to us last summer. Essentially, we thought this retirement plan was robust and going to meet expectations. But we were informed at the end of July that there was a huge deficit in terms of it being fully funded. It caught us off guard. We had no reason to believe up to that point there were serious issues with the retirement plan.
It became clear to me right away that we had to respond to this as quickly as possible with people who had the skill set to look at the issues involved and find a way forward. I’m grateful to the task force that’s been meeting a couple times a week since we received this news to find the best way forward. It’s a very complex issue, and we want to do right by people who obviously deserve these well-earned funds to help them in retirement. I’ve received a lot of letters from people in the diocese who are understandably concerned because they’re struggling to afford medicine or put food on the table. These are people who have worked in parishes and schools and for the diocese itself. I see the distress it’s causing for them.
I and my brother bishops from dioceses affected by this crisis — seven of us, and Cardinal Cupich of Chicago also attended — insisted on a meeting with Christian Brothers’ leadership in Illinois on Feb. 4, where we expressed our dismay, our concerns and our questions. We dioceses didn’t know about the extent of the underfunding, but it’s the reality we’re facing, and so what is the best way to proceed? In addition to forming the task force, we’ve enlisted the help of USI Consulting Group [a national firm with expertise in retirement planning and benefits administration] and Groom Law [a national benefits, retirement, and health care law firm] to ensure we’re making good decisions that are also in line with federal and state laws.
We’re getting closer now to finding the right way forward — one that I think will be fair and just using the resources we have available.
Q: When did our diocese become connected with this plan?
Joe Spaniol: The diocese joined the plan back in 1991. The parishes, schools and other Catholic organizations in the diocese were asked to join the plan as well, with Christian Brothers being the plan sponsor.
Q: What is the diocese’s level of involvement, and what is its responsibility in this plan?
Joe Spaniol: According to the plan documents, the sponsor of the plan is the Major Superiors of the Christian Brothers. The St. Cloud diocesan corporation is not the sponsor of the plan. A pension board appointed by Christian Brothers has been responsible for administering the plan.
The diocesan corporation, which consists of approximately 40-45 employees, is part of the plan. The diocesan corporation contributed to the plan on behalf of its employees. The parishes, schools and other corporations in the diocese contributed to the plan as separate organizations for their employees.
This is also why individual employers within the diocese — parishes and other Catholic organizations involved with the plan — were asked last winter to sign resolutions giving the diocese permission to spin off from the plan and establish a new pension plan with a different third-party administrator and thorough oversite framework. The resolutions were necessary because the diocesan corporation had no authority over the pension funds of employees other than its own employees. And the spin-off option was chosen as the best option because it provides the most flexibility and control to protect both retirees and active employees.
Q: So, who’s responsible for the severe underfunded situation we’re facing?
Joe Spaniol: Christian Brothers is responsible for the situation. They are the plan sponsor. It is their responsibility to make sure there’s adequate funding into the plan. It is they and their board who are responsible for proper investments for the plan.
Q: In recent weeks, there have been stories in the media about this situation. After reading those, do you feel there are any misconceptions about the pension situation or aspects of it that need to be clarified from your perspective?
Joe Spaniol: I don’t know if everyone realizes that the people who make up the task force that Bishop Neary appointed are also impacted by the plan. Many of us are members of this plan, too. We are very attuned to the needs of the people out there and their concerns. We hear about them every day in phone calls, email and letters. There is no one on the task force representing or advocating for particular individuals or groups of people who are impacted. We’re working for the benefit of all plan participants.
Bailey Ziegler: A misconception I have heard is that benefits will be cut as of a certain date and that decisions are being made in a vacuum by people who don’t understand. No decisions have been made at this point to cut benefits. That’s not been communicated by us in any way. We’re affected, and we work with people affected by this every day. Many of us have received a lot of letters. I’ve spent many hours over the past several months talking with people affected by this, hearing their concerns, hearing their fears. This factors into our discernment and decision-making.
I also hear sometimes that the task force is only seeking to preserve the best interests of “the diocese.” I would say that we preserve the best interests of the diocese — and this includes parishes and schools — by working on behalf of all the people who serve it, and that’s what we’re striving to do.
Todd Wentworth: Some of the misconceptions are that we’re not listening to the retired population, or we’re not hearing from teachers who are retired. On the contrary, a lot of those letters, in-person visits and phone calls are with these people. The largest segment of our pension pool is retirees. They are the biggest portion that we’re looking at in all our analysis.
Q: As you stated, many people you’re hearing from are anxious, stressed, angry. Some may wonder if their interests are being considered as the task force works toward a solution. When you’re responding to these people, whether it’s over the phone or in an email, what do you tell them? And what do you want people in the pews to know about how you’re trying to support people?
Bailey Ziegler: I welcome them to share their anxieties and fears, and I try not to spread my own anxiety and fears on them, while also sharing with them that I share in their grief, sadness and uncertainty of the future as a member and participant in this. We’re not making decisions in a tower. We’re on the ground as active participants, as people who’ve served the same mission as them and continue to serve them, and we bring them into every decision and every conversation. I can say this honestly, because I know at every meeting we have — and we meet often — we talk about these employees and potential impacts on their lives. There are limits to the things we can do, but the people are at the heart of all our decision-making.
David Eickhoff: Also, when people call Christian Brothers to ask questions, Christian Brothers can only answer based on their plan documents. The new retirement plan that is spinning off from it will be a different plan, with different plan documents that may allow things that aren’t allowed right now under Christian Brothers. So, because Christian Brothers can only answer questions based on its plan, and not the new plan, some of the answers people get from Christian Brothers might cause some confusion. The challenge is that there are still decisions to be made, and we don’t have the official documents yet for the new plan. More information about the new plan will be coming.
Bailey Ziegler: I would add that decision-making in real time and communicating very complex issues in real time presents its own challenges. It takes the task force time to craft the best ways to communicate information, making sure it’s clear, accurate and up to date. A lot of times, the information that we’re giving is technical. There’s a lot of language that’s very specific to finance, accounting and pensions that, generally, most people aren’t familiar with. Being able to explain it in a way that we can pass on takes time to do responsibly.
Sometimes the information that we can give may feel like it’s coming slowly, or it may feel like we’re not being forthcoming. But we’re giving as much information as we responsibly can at any given time.
Q: Bishop Neary, is it accurate to say that you are receiving regular updates from the task force regarding where things are at with the plan?
Bishop Neary: Yes, I feel well-informed. Hindsight is 20-20, and if I could do this again, I would do a better job to personally communicate sooner about the problem, getting it in front of those most directly impacted as well as our parishioners. So, I own that. That said, I have full trust in my task force and the outside consultants we’re using to figure out the best way forward with this very complex challenge. We are trying to proceed with goodwill, with love, with compassion and with intelligence and wisdom.
Q: The complexity of the issues before this group have been acknowledged by several of you. It seems that one of these complexities is figuring out how to use the resources available in the most just way possible for all plan participants. Other complexities seem to revolve around the legal issues and financial boundaries that must be respected as a plan moves forward. Please speak to some of these legal and financial challenges that are being considered by this group.
Todd Wentworth: As far as some of those legal things are concerned, we have the existing plan document with Christian Brothers that we’re spinning off from. So, there’s a transition into the new frozen plan, which is a separate plan. It needs its own plan documents, its own language. But we want to try to improve that document and improve our options for our pension participants. There’ll be different language there, but it has to transition in a certain, organized manner.
In the transition with Christian Brothers, they’re trying to protect their interests; we’re trying to protect the interests of our pension participants. We have set up a separate legal entity to receive the spun off assets and liabilities from the frozen pension plan. Meanwhile, we’re still looking into the future. Our current employees and future employees need a solid retirement option. We have a subcommittee of the task force looking at what the options are. So, there’s a ton of research. Setting up a new retirement option will require its own plan document, whatever type of retirement plan it is. It will also require its own oversight committee. So, there’s a whole legal structure that needs to be set up.
Bishop Neary: It also can’t be overstated how important the consulting work of USI has been for us. They’ve been a key partner through this whole process, in all of our discussions, by sharing their expertise and experience regarding very complex issues. They’re not just going through the motions. They’re working hard on behalf of the plan participants.
Q: Bailey, you mentioned being transparent and communicating accurate information. How’s the task force working to do that?
Bailey Ziegler: We’re sending an email to participants about every three to four weeks. Our goal is a little shorter span than that. But, again, it takes time to craft those communications and make sure they’re accurate, up-to-date and have as much information as possible. We’ve set up a website to house previous communications [https://stcdio.org/christian-brothers]. It includes a video that Bishop Neary made and a webinar that we did with USI in November to explain to participants what was going on. On the website, there’s also a link where people can sign up for ongoing communications. We don’t have everyone’s email, so it’s important to sign up for those communications.
We are also communicating with the [benefit] site administrators at our parishes and schools who are supporting their current employees, retirees and maybe other sites that they have relationships with, so they’re equipped to answer questions and have the information they need, especially as we move forward into a new plan. Our parishes and schools will be paying into this, and so we want to make sure they have the information to do that properly.
At the very beginning, we sent a letter, physical mail, to all our participants. In the future, if any major decisions are made that impact participants or their benefits, we’ll again do a physical mailing. Such mailings take a lot of time and are financially demanding, and so being able to physically mail every communication is just not a possibility. That’s why we’ve been doing mostly email and website communications.
Q: You’ve talked about the time and effort that has gone into this work. You’ve mentioned all the letters, emails and phone calls you’re receiving. Please talk about, from a personal level, what it’s been like working on this task force. What are you thinking and feeling as you navigate this? Has your faith guided you in any way?
Todd Wentworth: This is additional work. This isn’t part of our normal job duties. It is, in the sense of it being an HR, pension and financial issue, but this is at a different level of complexity. We weren’t planning to have a pension underfunding like this, but we have to deal with it. People want to know with some comfort what kind of retirement they’re going to have, and this uncertainty is draining and causes a lot of stress.
How does faith help get us through it? Fortunately, we are in the people business and the faith business. So, we rely on lots of prayer. The Holy Spirit will guide us. We will find a way through it.
The timing? We wish we could have solutions now at the snap of our fingers, but that’s not how things work. It’s not in our time, but we’re working our darnedest to find a way through this. Going back to our faith, the Catholic social justice piece — that’s been integral since the early part of this. Social justice needs to be at a high level; in the Church’s history, it hasn’t always been. Part of our concern is when people say, “Well, I wasn’t paid very well, but at least I had the pension.” Well, why weren’t they paid very well? Shame on us. So, looking forward, what can we do for the future? That needs to be a focus.
I can’t change what happened. But with our Catholic faith — and knowing Bishop Neary’s strategic goals, including care of the laity and clergy — we have, right from the top, a strategic perspective to guide us. And so we’re going to do this. How? We’re figuring that out as we go and as we learn more information. We will find a way through this.
Jessica Goebel: I just think it’s so fitting that we’re in the Easter season right now. I think at the heart of our faith, we’re resurrection people. So, while it may be easy to lament — “How did we get here? — we look forward, and we see hope in, “How do we go forward?” and continue to focus on what we can do together to provide fair and just results.
Bailey Ziegler: This is our workspace, and we work on this. But this isn’t just work for us. This is our faith. These are our faith communities. It’s not something that we on the task force shut off at the end of the day. It’s something that we’re carrying into so many different aspects of our lives. We know so many of the people that this affects personally. These are not strangers, or just numbers and people on worksheets and Excel spreadsheets. These are people who we know, worship with, pray with and interact with. They’re educating our children. These are real people. I think that helps carry us through — this shared mission that we all work together toward.
Q: What can you say about the current work of the task force? What will be the next set of decisions that are going to be made? When do you anticipate those happening?
Todd Wentworth: The work is going in multiple paths at the same time. There’s a lot moving forward, and the momentum has picked up in the last month or two. We’ve started to receive near-final information from Christian Brothers to figure out a path forward with the frozen pension plan and what contributions our parishes and schools will need to make going forward because it’s underfunded.
So, when do we expect to have some of these communications coming out? Well, we have started. Parishes started in January — following the freeze date last December 31 —making their payments to the frozen plan trust instead of Christian Brothers. The momentum will pick up over the next couple of months. I would expect there to be more communications as we get closer to finalizing the date of the asset transfer.
We also need to clarify the legal agreements between Christian Brothers and our diocese regarding the frozen pension plan before we can get those assets transferred. We also hope to have the new retirement plan option coming out later this year. We’re aiming to at least communicate the percentage that we’re expecting employers to contribute into the new retirement plan for active and future employees. We hope to have this come out before the new fiscal year starts, so people can plan for it.
Bailey Ziegler: One thing we want to be clear in saying is that there’s not a point where a decision will be made, and it is the only decision being made moving forward. Decisions will need to continue to be assessed and analyzed over the course of many years.
Q: You stated that employers will continue to pay into the plan to help fund that underfunded gap. What other things are being considered to help close that gap?
Joe Spaniol: Everything is on the table. We haven’t ruled out anything at this point that might help us raise funds. We’ll explore all viable options.
Q: Looking ahead to the new retirement plan, what is being considered and how would it be monitored?
Jessica Goebel: Looking ahead, we have sought out and relied on input from our constituents — our parish site administrators, principals and others — as we discern what a robust retirement program could look like. We’ve also reached out to our partners at the archdiocese and other surrounding dioceses to learn what is working well for their employees. And we have been interviewing multiple vendors to ascertain what best practices look like for a healthy, long-term retirement program.
I think historically, with pension programs, there’s been the thought that the employer would provide the sole financial support of an employee’s retirement. Today, we understand that while offering some financial support is important, an employer’s responsibility is to empower employees so that they know where they’re at in their retirement planning and allow them to take ownership in it. We’re looking at what is a digestible contribution to a new retirement program for parishes and schools to make sure that we’re taking care of everyone that’s involved.
Todd Wentworth: There will be an oversight committee going forward. It will include representation from parishes. There will be some fiduciary help from the vendor that gets selected from the near dozen that we have been researching. We will also have a lot of education. It’s one of our priorities to make sure we have robust education for our employees and employers. We’d like to have consistency across the diocese. There will be regular assessments. So, the oversight committee will work with our vendor or vendors for a regular assessment of our investments, of participation from our employees, of returns on investments, investment options for our employees, etc. That will significantly increase the engagement of our employees and awareness of where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going with the retirement option.
Q: What message do you have for people in the diocese — plan participants as well people in the pews? What do you want them to know?
Bishop Neary: I want them to know, based on what we’ve shared here, that this is an extremely important priority, and we feel a sense of responsibility to provide for them as best we can. We acknowledge their contributions and also acknowledge their understandable anxiety, fear and worry about the future. I think, moving forward, we’ll be in a closer relationship with them as we explore and introduce these options. We do carry them in our hearts and our prayers, because we know how hard this has been from the communications we’ve received.
I hope people can discern from what’s been shared here that this task force, every member, is gifted and competent, faith-filled, mission-driven, and they’ve devoted so many hours weekly to this matter. It’s not something they’ve taken lightly, but rather they’ve gone the extra mile because it’s part of their call and their sense of mission and dedication to the people most affected. I hope people can trust that we’re trying to do our best, and we’re hopeful about the future.
Todd Wentworth: For the wider Catholic public, or even the wider public in general: gratitude. Be thankful for those teachers teaching your kids. Be thankful for the custodian that is doing all the work they do throughout your parish campuses. Be thankful for your faith formation leaders, your school principals, your communication staff, your finance staff, who are trying to be good stewards. Just take time to be grateful for those people and all they share.
Bishop Neary: And I would ask for us to keep it in prayer, too. Because we do trust, ultimately, in the Holy Spirit. We need the Spirit’s wisdom.
For more information and to receive email updates regarding the pension plan, visit https://stcdio.org/christian-brothers.
Members of the task force
• Fr. Scott Pogatchnik, vicar general
• Joe Spaniol, CFO for the diocese
• Bailey Ziegler, HR director for the diocese.
• Jessica Goebel, HR coordinator for the diocese
• Todd Wentworth, business administrator, Come to the Water Area Catholic Community
• Joe Towalski, chancellor for the diocese
• David Eickhoff, executive director, Catholic Foundation for the Diocese of Saint Cloud
• Tom Janson, attorney
Dear Bishop Neary and Task Force,
I appreciate Bishop Neary’s statement that communication with those affected by Christian Brothers default should have begun earlier. Thank you, Bishop, for acknowledging that the delay created further uncertainty and angst among pensioners. My continuing concern is about communication. I learned very little more from this article than was shared in the webinar in November. And I was surprised to learn that the committee has communicated as often as once a month, as those are not communications I have received. My email has been submitted to the website, and I look forward to more frequent updates including specific information as I believe lack of communication continues to be an issue.
This article reminded me of when I was preparing to make my first confession. My Franciscan teacher taught me about sins of omission. She said there were two distinct types of sins: sins of commission, which are actions that you know are wrong, while sins of omission are failures to do the right thing. My teacher made me memorize a verse from James 4:17: “Anyone, then who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sins.”
For some reason this article reminded me of this lesson I learned 60 years ago.
This article omitted one essential point. Will the Saint Cloud Diocese do the right thing and fully meet the pension promises they made to nearly 1,400 retired, former, and current Catholic school teachers, parish youth ministers and staffs, and diocesan employees.
The article omitted giving any details about the pension being underfunded by 42% or nearly $35 million dollars. They omitted saying how they would figure out a way to fully meet the pensions promised to its lay workers. Bishop Cozzens in the Diocese of Crookston has made this commitment, will Bishop Neary do a capital campaign or find the resources to do the same? Or is the St. Cloud Diocesan pension task force simply going to pass on the deficit to workers through cuts to their pensions? We don’t know! This article omitted any discussion of this essential question.
The article omitted any discussion of the 275 Catholic school teachers, youth ministers, parish who have joined together to advocate that the diocese fully funds the pension promises. This Diocesan Pension Concerns Group initial meeting was held on December 4th. At the meeting we listened to each other and heard about the deep pain this pension fiasco was inflicting. Our group sent a letter to Bishop Neary on December 8th asking for four things:
1. We wanted transparent communication to all the parishes and parishioners about this pension problem. (Please note that this article is the first diocesan publication addressed to parishioners about the problem. Why has it taken over four months for the diocese to publicize this significant problem? Our group generated the only media coverage about this diocesan pension problem until this article was published).
2. We wanted Listening Session with the Bishop. (After our group’s first session, where we listened to our stories, it was clear that we needed our shepherd to walk with us. Bishop Neary said to me over two months ago that listening session were being planned, but nothing has occurred).
3. We wanted representation from our group on the Diocesan Pension Task Force. We wanted one seat at the table. (Bishop Neary told me in December he would consider this, but in February denied our group this request because too much time had elapsed). And by the way, current diocesan employees cannot adequately represent our group on the task force because of the conflict of interest they have as current employees of the diocese.
4. Most importantly we wanted the diocese to commit to fully fund the promised pensions through a capital campaign or other means to raise the needed funds. (Bishop Neary told me twice over the phone that a capital campaign was not at all feasible.)
It’s clear to me that this article omitted essential aspects of this pension fiasco. It’s important that parishioners in the Saint Cloud Diocese hear the rest of the story.
Finally, we ask and need parishioner support. For more information about what our group has been doing over the last five months, please see our group’s website: https://stcdiocesepensionconcerns.com.
Let us all hope that no sins of omission are committed here. As the good book says: “Anyone, then who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sins.” Bishop Neary please do the right thing.
Bishop Neary and Pension Committee,
I appreciate that you “want to do right by people who obviously deserve these well-earned funds” and that you are “getting closer now to finding the right way forward-one that you think will be fair and just”. You don’t state it, but I hope that this all points to fully funding our pensions, as that is the only “fair and just” solution to this crisis.
Also, I keep seeing the year 1991 as the year the diocese joined Christian Brothers. I was hired for my position in 1981, and starting in 1982 “employees share of retirement” was listed as part of my compensation on my annual contract for employment.
Finally, Bailey Ziegler noted in her part of the interview about the ‘misconception…..benefits will be cut…no decisions have been made at this point to cut benefits. That’s not been communicated by us in anyway.” This is not true; if you go to the Diocesan website where all the pension information is posted, you will find with the November webinar link, the 100+ Q & A responses shared out by the Diocese on Nov. 20, 2025. #25 states: “yes, a possibility that those currently receiving benefits will lose/reduce their benefit” and #89 mentions that it is “anticipated that (our pension amount) will likely be in the middle somewhere”. (between 0-100% of current benefit) It is these responses to our questions early on, rather than a resounding: WE WILL FIND A WAY TO MAKE THIS RIGHT AND FULLY FUND YOUR PENSIONS, that has created this constant state of stress for so many in the past 6 months.
On question #102(same document) you state that “Our collective mission to be Christ’s heart of mercy, voice of hope and hands of justice is our number one priority.” I am putting my faith in knowing that Christ and this mission is your guide to make this right and find a way to fully fund our pensions and provide for those about to retire and still ministering in our diocese.
Sincerely,
Mary Cheryl Opatz
I appreciate this information from the diocese, our Bishop, and the task force he is working with to try to resolve this sad situation. I can believe there is far more involved here than I am aware of, and more complicated than I could imagine. I also believe that many, if not all the people working with the diocese on this problem are trying to do the best they can to come up with some type of resolution. But when I read that people/participants are being heard, and that the task force has not ruled out anything that might help, I have a hard time with that, when a group like the Diocesan Pension Concerns Group have asked to be included. They might have some very good ideas, and the right thing to do would be to at least let them be part of the discussions, so they could at least be updated and be made aware of all the complex issues your task force is working on to get through this. There are many in that group that have very deep and justified concerns about what will happen with their retirement.
This article basically summarizes the underfunding
that took place with the St. Cloud Diocese retirement accounts, seems to place the blame on Christian Brothers without taking ownership for oversight of how the funds were managed. The article made clear that there are committees in place to try to look for remedies. However, no real solutions were mentioned, and it appears that the retirees are not involved in these committees. I’m sure this is terrifying to those who will likely face a huge cut to their pensions and wonder how they can afford to live.