NEW YORK – Even though an internal report has found the Diocese of Steubenville presently “viable,” Bishop Edward Lohse has revealed that a merger with the Diocese of Columbus remains a possibility because of the forecasted decreases in both the diocese’s general and Catholic populations.

Announcing the publication of the internal report on March 11, Lohse said in a statement that a decision on a potential merger – something the diocese has kicked the tires on since 2021 –  hasn’t been made. The diocese, he said, now faces two important questions that will guide its decision.

Those are: “Is merging or remaining free-standing the better way to provide things needed so that the faith can flourish? And if indications point to the likelihood that there is no long-term viability, then is it better to merge now while the diocese is still viable or to do so only after the diocese is no longer viable?”

The population forecast aside, the report wasn’t all negative. It found that the diocese’s budget is balanced, that the presbyterate size is healthy, and that despite operating with less-than-ideal and occasionally inadequate resources “a vibrant missionary spirit remains.”

Lohse, the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Steubenville, said the internal “Report on the State of the Diocese” will likely contribute to an eventual decision on its future. The report, published on the diocese’s website on March 11, is dated Feb. 7. It was completed by Lohse, who worked with diocesan consultors, members of the diocesan finance council, diocesan administrators, and the priests of the diocese, according to the bishop’s announcement.

The report states that the decline of the diocese’s general and Catholic populations continues with “no reversal of this trend in sight.” The Diocese of Steubenville comprises 13 counties in Southeastern Ohio. It has more than 29,000 Catholics, about 6 percent of the general population.

“Presently, the diocese is viable. Looking ahead, however the forecasted decreases in both the diocese’s general population and Catholic population pose the single greatest challenge to the diocese continuing as a free-standing entity,” the report states.

“This decrease in population will have considerable financial ramifications as the donor base shrinks. If nothing is done and diocesan and parish structures and services remain unchanged, the decreased donor base will eventually lead to deficit spending and financial instability,” it continues.

At this moment, the report found that the diocese is “on a stronger financial footing than in the recent past,” and “beginning to rebound, at least modestly” through cost-cutting efforts, the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, market performance, and management reforms.

In fiscal years 2023 and 2024, the total diocesan net assets and liabilities increased from $18.2 million to $19.8 million, according to the report. Still, while touting these positive developments, the report also highlights a report issued in June of 2023 on the financial health of the diocese that “foresaw a negative cash flow within 5 years without any prospect of reversing the trend.”

Further, the report states that while the diocese’s budget is currently balanced, it only provides for “basic services” and would need to become more robust if the diocese were to remain separate. It also lists the diocese’s Holy Name Cathedral as a “known liability,” stating that “the condition of the cathedral has deteriorated to the point that the most likely solution is to tear it down.”

As far as the presbyterate goes, according to the report the Diocese of Steubenville currently has 33 priests actively assigned to pastoral ministry, 16 permanent deacons incardinated in Steubenville, and 29 incardinated retired priests, some of whom still assist with the celebration of Mass. There are no religious or permanent deacons incardinated elsewhere serving in the diocese, it states.

The report presents these numbers as positive.

“Although the number of diocesan priests in Steubenville is small, the ratio of active diocesan priests to faithful in Steubenville (1 to 997) is better than anywhere else in Ohio,” the report states. “Even if those priests presently over retirement age but still active all chose to retire immediately, Steubenville’s ratio would still be well ahead of the rest of Ohio.”

The report also notes that the diocese is set up well for the future with 10 seminarians.

Beyond statistics, the report acknowledges the distrust among the faithful that exists in the diocese.

“The more than two years since the announcement of the proposed merger have been hard on both the faithful and clergy alike,” the report states. “Many people believed from the announcement of a proposed merger that it had already been decided, even though in truth no decision had actually been made.”

Part of that mistrust has to do with a financial scandal that took place in 2018-2019, and a lack of transparency when a merger was first considered under Bishop Jeffrey Monforton, who in 2023 was relocated to the Archdiocese of Detroit as an auxiliary bishop.

Another factor in the distrust, the report acknowledges, was the decision last June to replace Monforton’s successor, Bishop Paul Bradley, as apostolic administrator of the diocese a few months after he publicized that he hadn’t found a reason to believe the Diocese of Steubenville needed a merger to survive. Bradley had told Crux that “while there are some who think that the Diocese of Steubenville is not able to survive, that is not what I’ve found so far.”

Lohse took over for Bradley.

“The faithful and clergy have been in limbo waiting for the merger to take place,” the report states.

“The mistrust that arose from the financial mismanagement has contributed to a mistrust of this process, which some see as not only as lacking in transparency but even as disingenuous,” it continues. “The sudden replacement of the Apostolic Administrator in June of 2024 exacerbated the situation.”

Looking ahead, the report notes that regardless if the Diocese of Steubenville merges with the Diocese of Columbus or remains free-standing, a lot will have to change.

It remains unclear when the diocese will get its next bishop.

“Regardless of the decision to merge or to remain free-standing, whichever bishop assumes responsibility for these 13 counties will need to engage in serious pastoral long-range planning to ensure that the infrastructure and pastoral services remain proportionate to the population of the faithful,” the report states.

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