2010-11 Accountability Report
From the Apostolic Administrator to the People of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis
Dear Friends in Christ:
I am pleased to present this special supplement to The Criterion, which gives an accounting of the archdiocese’s finances for this past fiscal year. We have an obligation to be good stewards of our people’s resources. Please take a few minutes to read this report.
Last year was a year of significant change for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. After serving the people of the archdiocese for nearly 20 years, Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein was granted early retirement for health reasons by Pope Benedict XVI on Sept. 21, 2011. We are truly grateful for Archbishop Buechlein’s tireless work over the years to strengthen the pastoral, spiritual and financial health of the archdiocese.
I was appointed auxiliary bishop of Indianapolis on Jan. 14, 2011, by Pope Benedict and ordained a bishop on March 2, 2011. The Holy Father made me apostolic administrator of the archdiocese when he granted Archbishop Buechlein’s early retirement. As apostolic administrator, I am to see to the good order of the archdiocese until the next archbishop is named. I ask you all to continue to pray for Pope Benedict as he prepares to send us our next shepherd.
In early February, I will travel to Rome—as will several other bishops from the Midwest—for an ad limina visit to report to Pope Benedict and other Vatican officials on the state of the archdiocese. These scheduled ad limina visits happen every five years. I will be pleased to report to the Holy Father that the Archdiocese of Indianapolis is in excellent shape. Like any diocese, we have issues that need to be attended to, but thanks to our dedicated clergy, pastoral leaders, employees and the full and active participatory faith of the Catholic people in central and southern Indiana, we are a vibrant archdiocese that is meeting its challenges head-on.
The national economic troubles that have occurred over the past few years continue to present challenges for many people. Despite these difficult circumstances, the people have continued to generously share their time, talent and treasure to carry out God’s work throughout central and southern Indiana. Thank you for your continued support and generosity.
In this report, you will find an accounting of our stewardship of the human, physical and financial resources for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. This report reminds us that we have much to be grateful for in our archdiocese. At the same time, it challenges us to look for new opportunities to be even better stewards.
Stewardship of God’s Gifts
We are called to make our parishes true communities of faith and vibrant sources of service to the larger community by modeling ourselves after Christ and by living a life of holiness. When we glorify God in all that we do, we also succeed in our call to evangelize. That’s why in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis all of our stewardship efforts are guided by Pope Benedict XVI’s observation in his first encyclical titled “God is Love” that “The Church’s deepest nature is expressed in her threefold responsibility of proclaiming the Word of God, celebrating the sacraments, and exercising the ministry of charity.”
We tied each of these three responsibilities to one of the three areas where our ministry needs are the greatest: supporting our Catholic schools and religious education programs; supporting our seminarians, deacons and retired priests; and caring for people most in need throughout the archdiocese, which we do primarily through Catholic Charities.
We are blessed to have many people in our parishes in central and southern Indiana who share their time, talent and expertise in our many ministries. Your financial contributions through parish Sunday and holy day collections and to the Christ Our Hope: Compassion in Community annual appeal are needed to provide the resources to operate our many parish and archdiocesan ministries.
Our Sunday and holy day collections have held steady through the economic downturn, but contributions to the Christ Our Hope annual appeal are still running about $1 million below the historic highs of six or seven years ago. On the bright side, we did see an increase in the dollar amount of pledges to the annual appeal this past fiscal year. The number of donors who have joined the Miter Society by contributing $1,500 or more to the annual appeal has increased the past two years. Money raised through the Christ Our Hope appeal is critical to our ability to carry out our many ministries and to meet our increasing ministry needs.
The archdiocese’s Catholic Community Foundation, which oversees 393 endowments and 105 charitable gift annuities, continues to experience strong growth. The value of the Catholic Community Foundation’s total cash and investments increased 18.7 percent in 2011 to $171.2 million from $144.2 million the previous year.
At the Catholic Community Foundation Annual Meeting on Nov. 2, 2011, it was announced that the archdiocese had received its largest ever bequest payout when farmland given to the archdiocese by the late James P. Scott was sold for nearly $7.6 million. The proceeds are being used to support seminarian education and to establish the James P. Scott Endowment Fund, which will support capital projects in parishes, schools and agencies throughout the archdiocese.
I encourage everyone to consider making a planned gift to the archdiocese. You can receive more information about how to do this by contacting our Office of Stewardship and Development at www.archindy.org/plannedgiving.
Vocations
The archdiocese celebrated the ordination of Dustin Boehm to the priesthood on June 4, 2011, at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral. Father Boehm is a son of Our Lady of the Greenwood Parish in Greenwood and is currently assigned as parochial vicar at St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis.
We continue to do well in encouraging our people to consider how God might be calling them to a life of service as a priest, deacon or religious. We currently have 17 seminarians at Saint Meinrad School of Theology in St. Meinrad, two seminarians at the Pontifical North America College in Rome and 10 seminarians enrolled at Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary in Indianapolis.
Our Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary, which was established by the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in 2004 to prepare college seminarians for major seminary, continues to grow. In addition to our own seminarians for our archdiocese, seven other dioceses are now sending seminarians there as well. We have renovated the seminary to accommodate the growing enrollment and are planning to expand the building to meet the growing demand.
In addition to our seminarians, a second group of men are studying to become permanent deacons. We expect to ordain these 16 men on June 23, 2012, at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral. As permanent deacons, these men will be able to baptize, witness marriages and preside at funerals. At Mass, they will be able to proclaim the Gospel and preach, but will not serve as celebrant or consecrate the Eucharist. In the ministry of the Word, the deacons will teach the faith and provide pastoral guidance. The deacons’ primary ministry, however, will be focused on charity. A period of inquiry and discernment will begin in September of this year in order to form the third formation class of deacons.
Pray that God will bless our archdiocese with more vocations and pray for all men and women who are discerning a call to the priesthood, permanent diaconate and religious life. More information about vocations can be found on the archdiocesan web site at www.archindy.org.
Parish Planning
After more than two years of work, the Terre Haute Deanery Pastoral Leadership Team and Deanery Planning Team made recommendations to Archbishop Buechlein, which resulted in the archbishop approving in July of 2011 the closing of four of the deanery’s 14 parishes. The four parishes are Holy Rosary in Seelyville, St. Ann in Terre Haute, St. Joseph in Universal and St. Leonard of Port Maurice in West Terre Haute. St. Leonard Parish celebrated its final Mass on Nov. 19, 2011, and the other three parishes will close this year.
The Terre Haute Deanery planning process led the archdiocese to undertake a new initiative called Connected in the Spirit, a parish planning project that has parishes plan for the future in concert with other parishes. Due to demographic shifts, the diminishing number of priests, and the financial situation of some parishes, a process was needed to help the archdiocese and its members make the best use of all of our human and financial resources.
The parishes in the Batesville Deanery are taking part in Connected in the Spirit this year. The goal is to have all of the deaneries in the archdiocese take part in this process in the coming years.
Education initiatives
Last school year we became the first Catholic diocese in the country to operate public charter schools. Two of our six Mother Theodore Catholic Academies in Indianapolis—St. Anthony Catholic School and St. Andrew & St. Rita Catholic Academy—transitioned to charter schools. The former St. Anthony school is now Andrew Academy and the former St. Rita school is now Padua Academy.
The cost of operating our center-city schools in Indianapolis has been a challenge, and the charter school option provided us the best opportunity to continue to serve poor children in the center city. The decision to pursue this course was made after consulting with parents, educators, clergy, parish leaders and community leaders. Religious education has been removed from the curriculum, but faith formation classes are being offered after school.
The approval last year of a new Indiana state voucher and scholarship program is already giving parents throughout the archdiocese more choices for educating their children and helping them afford a Catholic education. The archdiocese’s Catholic schools have added more than 1,000 new students due to the voucher and scholarship program.
Conclusion
In addition to some of the highlights I have covered from the past year, this report also includes a letter from the archdiocese’s chief financial officer, Jeffrey D. Stumpf, which gives more detailed information about our financial operating results as well as information about our annual stewardship appeal and other stewardship efforts. You will also find a financial statement inside and other charts that highlight the archdiocese’s financial position.
We have much to be thankful for. Let us wisely use our ministry resources to serve those most in need, and may we all continue to work for the common good of the archdiocese and our society.
Thank you for your support and God bless you!
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Christopher J. Coyne, SLD
Apostolic Administrator