Who started the Loan Deposit Program? Why and when?

Cardinal Edward Mooney, Detroit's first Archbishop, started the LDP during the Great Depression. After becoming Archbishop in 1937, Cardinal Mooney became increasingly concerned about parishes borrowing from commercial lenders and falling behind or defaulting on their loans. Motivated to prevent banks from foreclosing on and owning sacred worship space, Cardinal Mooney envisioned the LDP as a way to enhance and stabilize the financial assets of the Archdiocese, parishes and schools, managing and investing the funds for the common good, rather than having Catholic entities individually borrow from banks with limited recourse if they were unable to pay. Funds in the LDP are invested on behalf of its depositors, with each entity retaining a separate account with separate ownership and access to its funds.