1/28/2010
Handing on our faith — 2010 Archbishop’s Catholic Appeal
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 | Most Rev. John Vlazny
Archbishop of Portland |
Earlier this month there was a front page story in our Catholic Sentinel about parish finance councils. There is also an archdiocesan parish council. All pastors, including the bishop, by church law, are expected to work with their finance councils in deliberating matters that pertain to the administration of the parish and its resources. I certainly know that I would never be able to oversee the many facets of Catholic ministry here in western Oregon without such assistance, to say nothing of attempting to balance a budget. I know that most of my pastors feel the same way and I am grateful to all the people who collaborate with us in providing their service for our church’s evangelizing mission.
One of the more uneasy moments in my life each year, as bishop, occurs on the day I must sign off on the archdiocesan budget for the next fiscal year. Our fiscal officer presents the budget for approval to the finance council, usually during our June meeting, and then hands me a pen telling me to “sign here.” In spite of our many challenges and expenditures from these past 12 years, thus far we have always been able to come up with a balanced budget. It’s not easy, requiring sacrifices from everyone, donors, supporters and employees. But we do it, largely because of committed Catholic people like those of you reading this column.
What makes the challenge so imposing? Well, on June 26, 2009, I signed off on a budget for fiscal year 2009-10 which called for expenses from our operating fund of $9,789,750, expenses from our annual appeal at $3,726,406. That’s a lot of money where I come from, in excess of $13 million.
Income from the operating fund comes from a variety of sources such as parish assessments, investment income, interest income, fees, etc. Those are the funds utilized to compensate folks like myself working at the Pastoral Center, turn on lights, provide heat and serve a host of diocesan activities and responsibilities. The Annual Catholic Appeal, on the other hand, is used exclusively for a variety of ministries, all of which are outlined in the materials we distribute to you every year at this time. This year’s budget was counting on the $3.7 million figure I quoted above. Unfortunately, it looks like we will have collected only $3.64 million, which was the goal of the Appeal but because of our success in exceeding goals in previous years we took on a little bit more than we probably should have. We are working on cutting some of the expenditures between now and June and that will keep us from winding up on the wrong side of the ledger at the end of the fiscal year, June 30.
Sometimes folks wonder why they need to support the archdiocese. They support their parish. Isn’t that enough? Not really. We are all members of one diocesan church under the leadership of one bishop. Since the bishop obviously can’t take care of all the folks by himself, particularly in such a widespread area as our own, he establishes parishes and appoints pastors to assist him in that responsibility. There are many facets of church life that parishes can handle on their own. A number of matters require collaborative efforts under the leadership of the bishop and these are ones for which I reach out every year and seek your financial support.
Some of the activities and ministries that require special assistance are, for example, campus ministry at our secular universities, outreach to the disabled and deaf Catholic communities, diaconate ministry formation, vocations and seminary education, continuing education of priests, remuneration of priests in special assignments, support of our retired priests, prison ministry and contributions to a variety of church organizations, some of which are funded through the Appeal rather than through a special collection as might take place in other dioceses.
For this year’s Annual Catholic Appeal we have chosen the theme Handing On Our Faith. Our Catholic faith is a treasure, given us to bond us more closely to the Lord and one another and also to share more widely with friends, neighbors and our progeny. St. Paul once wrote, “For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received.” As disciples of the Lord what is most important for us is to pass on the gift of faith in the Lord Jesus and his church which we have received from our fathers and mothers in the worldwide Catholic family. Most of you have heard me speak about evangelization as the essential mission of our church. When I became your archbishop I offered as my own episcopal motto words taken from St. Matthew’s gospel, “Go and make disciples.” Those words remain a challenge for me in my personal ministry and, one hopes, for you too as you attempt to live your faith life as fully and widely as possible. In order to make more disciples for Christ, we need to work together, strengthening our own bonds with Jesus and also with each other in our Catholic family.
On Sunday, Feb. 7, most of the folks who attend Mass here in this archdiocese will have to listen to me through an audio presentation. At that time I will be attempting to encourage greater collaboration on the part of all of us in our efforts to hand on our faith and presenting an appeal for the ministries of the archdiocese. Sometimes our tasks seem daunting, but the responsorial from Psalm 138, which we will hear on that day reminds us that “The Lord is with us to the end, his love endures forever, and he will never forsake the works of his hands.” I serve with confidence as your archbishop because I truly believe those words and so often have the privilege of observing how the Lord does work through each one of you.
The goal for this year’s Catholic Appeal will be exactly the same as it was last year, $3,640,000. It would have been good to raise the goal, but since we just about made it in 2009, given the continuing uncertainty about the economy at large, archdiocesan leadership has determined that we should keep the goal the same and see if we can do a little bit better in exceeding it and providing even greater resources for the work of handing on the faith. The goal I present is the archdiocesan goal. Each parish is allotted its fair share of that goal. Most have been very faithful in achieving what has been asked of them.
The fact that many parishes exceed their goal makes up for the deficit that comes from some parishes that continue to lag behind. I call upon pastors and people of parishes who haven’t even reached 75 percent of their goal in recent years to take a good hard look at their commitment to the life of the church and the responsibility we all share for handing on our faith to future generations. So many people today live without the gift of faith. Our central mission is a precious one, the mission of handing on the hopeful and life-giving faith which so enriches our lives through the many and varied messages of God’s self revelation and the call to lives of virtue and self sacrifice that go hand in hand with a loving relationship with our God.
There are approximately 80,000 households in this archdiocese and some 25,000 regularly participate every year in the Appeal, a little less in 2009. Most of you who read this column probably do participate. I encourage you to spread the word about the mission we share with the other 55,000 households and encourage them to partner with us in handing on the faith. I shall be increasing my own donation this year and I hope that you will at least match or exceed what you have contributed in the past. Commitment Sunday will be Valentine’s Day, a day when loving relationships are celebrated and cherished.
May your loving relationship with God inspire you to share generously and to help us build a future of hope for people everywhere, but here and now in our own backyard of western Oregon.
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