Minutes from Dec 5 Meeting

Minutes

Diocesan Pension Concerns Meeting

4-5:30 PM at Great River Regional Library St. Cloud

50 in attendance

Facilitators:  Jeff Kaster and Mary Cheryl Opatz

4:00. Welcome, Introductions, and Prayer

•  Welcome: Jeff Kaster & Mary Cheryl Opatz
•   Introductions (one sentence each)
•   Prayer
•   Goals of the meeting 
  • Listening to concerns of current and retired workers 
  • Clarify expectations or what we want from the diocese
  • Identify Action Steps 

4:10 pm Listening to Concerns

•  Six Small Groups were formed 
•  Individuals shared concerns 
•  Each Group took notes

Group 1

• My retirement plans are changing. I’m a single person. I will no longer be able to retire at 65 with only SS benefits.
• I don’t want to rely on others
• I worked for this and now its lost/gone
• I may have to go back to work.
• It’s half of my income as a retired person
• Lots of things going on in the diocese (legal issues) that will need to be paid out and there will be nothing left for us.
• We have no legal representation
• Why do priests have a different pension and they are safe, but ours isn’t?
• Why don’t we have a right to know how much was made in the hedge fund (settlement?)
• What happened to the payout from Allianz?
• My school won’t be able to hire teachers or staff.
• No trust with the diocese.
• Why weren’t we notified sooner about this.  They knew in July.
• There is a risk of Catholic Schools closing if this is not handled correctly and swiftly.

Group 2 

• Justice/Fairness
• How to afford ‘living”
• Not knowing what is “guaranteed” for our employees.
• How do you offer or sign a contract without knowing your retirement plan?
• Not wanting to go back to work to live.
• This is one half of my income.
• What is the diocese paying out to others and we will be left with nothing.
• Why do the priests have a different pension and that pension was audited and not ours?
• Why is there no insurance for this?
• What did they do with the Aliance (settlement)?
• Why are we only finding out about this now, when Christian Brothers knew 10 years ago?

Group 3 

• The pension was the reason I stuck around.  This is incompetence. Where is the loyalty to the workers. Why didn’t the diocese keep track?
• I don’t trust the diocese.  The zoom meeting basically said they would make the decisions, trust them.  I’m sorry to say, I don’t.
• No trust.  I teach Catholic Social Teaching to my students and yet the dignity of the worker is not being upheld here.
• Why no insurance on pension plan?
• Will there be a capital campaign in the diocese to make sure employees and retired employees get all the funds contractually promised?
• What are the priorities for funding the different stakeholders? Which groups (retired folks, current employees, schools, parishes, or the diocese) will take the biggest financial hit?

Group 4 

• I’m trying to decide whether or not to pull out.
• Where is my security? Will my retirement continue?
• Great plan when I retired. Made more money in retirement. Who holds the responsibilities? The bishop NEEDS to take care of this. Rests totally on the shoulders of the Bishop.
• Who was watching this?
• Who is the manager of all this?
• I’ve been a teacher for 37 years. When is my date to retire? Do I take out lump sum to invest independently?
• This is very disheartening; devastating. It’s the only benefit I have used during employment.
• I planned my life around this. We were PROMISED this. I stayed because of this.
• Plans were made.
• Where is the accountability?
• Diocese is responsible.
• We need to let them know we are NOT going to let this go.
• This is showing no respect for our lives and families.
• We should ask for the diocese to have listening sessions.

Group 5 

• When will this take affect?
• What will happen to our Catholic schools?
• I’m concerned that the funds are not going to be there even though the amount may not be much.
• How much did Christian Brothers settle their suit for this was an undisclosed amount what was it?
• What happens to the rule of 90 should I retire early?
• Retirees who chose to take the monthly payment instead of a lump sum, can’t now go back and collect that.
• Christian Brothers invested in hedge funds. This is very risky and frustrating especially that it’s not even insured.
• We can no longer receive statements through 403B no paper trails
• This is hard as teachers where is our Shepherd?
• Am concerned about how I’m going to live how I’m going to pay for things
• I feel others, alumni and parents should know about this
• I’m shocked with a transparency with Christian Brothers and audits
• I feel more should’ve come from the bishop
• I assumed money would be there and they were taking care of us
• Our pastor has not said anything to us. No apology. We know it’s not his fault but some words would be good.
• How did other parish schools choose to opt out years ago? How did they know about this ahead of time?

Group 6 

• I’m an eighth-year teacher in the diocese. I want to stay in the diocese a long time however I’m worried about consistency. I’m very disappointed.
• It’s my 10th year I’m in the same boat
• I’m planning to retire in May. What does this mean? What retirement will I get?
• What happens if people take all of their benefits and then there’s nothing left for me?
• What will the diocese do so that we will get our retirement? Nothing left to sell to get enough funds?
• I’m retired. I’m depending on this chunk of money. Will the pay be the same? Is it legal to cut it when it’s being paid?
• I’m single and I worked for the church all my life. My pension is over 1/3 of my monthly income. Do I need another job? Can I no longer retire?
• Why did the other schools in the cities pull out up to two years ago and we did not? what red flags?
• How do we trust who is investing now and going forward?
• I have a small pension. I’m already retired for eight years. I haven’t got letters or any information at all about what’s going on.
• Blaming market, not true. Not enough people paying to cover people‘s collecting?
• This makes me as a young person want to leave!
• We made a lot of sacrifices to do this job. We were hopeful someone would look out for us.
• I have fear that this will be happening to more pensions and Social Security. What will the future be?
• We have so many questions and nobody is explaining
• Is there fraud? Is someone not doing their due diligence with checking into alliance and Christian Brothers?
• Are we getting anything? Do we trust them? Just wait for them. Why wasn’t there more transparency in the process?
• Is a lawsuit an option? How was it handled?
• Is it possible to have another company take over?

4:40 Clarifying our expectations for the diocese (What we want)

• Small groups 
• Prioritize 3-4 things we want from the diocese
• Reporting back to the large group

Group 1 

1. We want representation from all stakeholders (with a vested interest) on the diocesan committee working on the pension problem: retirees and current employees, schools, etc…
2. We want transparency/honesty. Make this public.
3. We want an honest answer (decision) soon so schools can offer contract/budgets and deal with a number of teachers who are saying they will be leaving mid-year due to this pension issue.

Group 2

1. Representation on the board
   1. Retired
   2. Those with 20+ years
   3. Those with less than 5 years
   4. Schools and all stakeholders
2. Transparency from the diocese
3. The diocese has found money for other things.  Why not us?

Group 3 

1. We want representation on the diocesan committee: employees and retired.
2. Make public the minutes of the diocesan committee meetings. Also make public in church bulletins, emails, newspapers.
3. We want the diocese to clarify the financial implications for each of the four options outlined in the zoom call.  Not simply the financial implications for the diocese, but specifics on how each option would impact pensions for the retired and currently employed workers. Currently employed teachers need to know.
4. We want better communication from the diocese.

Group 4 

1. We want listening sessions with the bishop.
2. We want the bishop to start a diocesan wide “capital campaign” to fund the shortages. 
3. We want the public to know more about this situation.
4. We want to continue the current plan for 1 year to give time to make the best decision. It feels rushed.

Group 5 

1. We want the bishop to step in and communicate with all.
2. We want minutes from the Diocesan Pension Committee going forward and back since the committee was formed.
3. We want representation from each ACC on the Diocesan Pension Committee going forward.
4. We want responses to our calls and emails more promptly.

Group 6: 

1. We want clear direct communication. Need to let public (congregations, parents & former parents, local media, etc.) know what’s happening. Ask bishop to write letter to all parishes informing them of the pension status. 
2. We need representation on the appointed CB pension plan committee, such as: retired employee and teachers: At least two reps.
3. If St. Cloud Diocese decides to go with option #4, Spinoff, and if the choice is to move into another pension plan, such as through USI, we want it required that the new pension plan complies with ERISA laws, is insured, and does not allow risky investments.
4. We want to know if a class action lawsuit against Christian Brothers is feasible due to mismanagement or negligence?
5. We want the local media contacted to do investigative reporting.  
6. We want personal testimonies from retired and current employees about the impact of this pension problem on their lives.

Consensus expectations for the diocese from current and retired employees: We want…

1. We want better representation on the Diocesan Pension Committee.
   1. The stakeholders should all be represented, especially teachers and the schools.
   2. Current employees and retired employees also need representation on the committee.
2. We want better communication and more involvement from the bishop.
   1. We want the bishop to write/video a message about this problem to be shared at all the masses.
   2. We want the bishop to set up listening sessions with current and retired employees impacted by this pension problem.
   3. We want all current and retired employees impacted by the CB retirement plan to receive information regularly from the diocese.
   4. We want the bishop to initiate a diocesan capital campaign to cover any losses current and retired employees will incur from reductions to their pensions.
3. We want transparency from the Diocesan Pension Committee
   1. We want to see the minutes from the diocesan pension committee meetings past and future.
   2. We want to know the specific financial implications for current and retired employees related to each of the four options presented on the zoom meeting.

5:00 Action Plan

1. The minutes from this meeting will be sent out to all those attending and all those who expressed interest in this meeting.
2. Three people volunteered to be new representatives on the Diocesan Pension Committee:  Karl Terhaar, Julianna Elchert, and Michael Sopcyk. We will ask the bishop to appoint these three to the committee.
3. A new website will be established to share information and tell our stories about the impacts of this on our lives.  Three people volunteered to start this process:  Karl
   Terhaar, Maureen Nyflot, and Michaela Barrett.
4. Participants from each school or parish agreed to start conversation about this pension problem with their pastors, school staffs, and or parish staffs.
5. Julianna Elchert will seek to obtain the emails for all those participating in the Christian Brothers Pension plan from the Saint Cloud Diocese.
6. A letter will be written to the bishop to share our concerns and expectations. Jeff Kaster agreed to write this letter.

Respectfully submitted, Friday, December 5, 2025 by Jeff Kaster.