BOSTON -- The troubled Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has secured a $12.5 million mortgage loan from the Knights of Columbus to maintain its daily operations in the midst of a sexual abuse scandal.
The archdiocese will pay $9 million to Fleet Bank, which cut off its $17.5 million credit line in June, according to The New York Times. The rest of the money will be used to complete a day care center in South Boston and finance schools, shelters and social service centers.
The archdiocese is guaranteed additional advances over the next three years as part of the loan, according to the paper.
Boston's Catholic Church has been plagued by financial trouble since the clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted in January. In early September, the archdiocese reached a tentative settlement with dozens of people who claim they were sexually molested by a priest (See story: Boston archdiocese reaches tentative settlement). Donations to the archdiocese's annual fund-raising drive have dropped, and it has cut its budget by 40 percent this year.
