2006 Accountability Report

Letter from Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein

Dear Friends in Christ:

Three years ago in the annual Accountability Report, after much listening to people throughout our archdiocese and after much prayer, I proposed that we focus our mission and our priorities around the theme “A New Moment of Grace—2007.” I said then that in 2007 we hoped to be at the apex of a new archdiocesan campaign to further the spiritual mission that Christ gave to our Church and that our pioneer bishop, Bishop Simon Bruté, inaugurated here in 1834. The focal point of these efforts has been the Legacy for Our Mission: For Our Children and the Future capital stewardship campaign.

We have much to be grateful for since we launched this capital campaign. Your prayers and financial support are truly bringing about a new moment of grace in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis as we work together to meet our immediate needs while building a lasting legacy for our children and generations to come.

Legacy for Our Mission campaign

Since 2004, pastoral and lay leaders in parishes throughout the archdiocese have been working on the Legacy for Our Mission campaign. The goal of the campaign is to raise $100 million. So far, 64 parishes have pledged $48.8 million. The majority of those pledges were made in 2006. All of the funds raised for parish ministries and archdiocesan priorities—priorities which benefit everyone in the archdiocese—will support parishes, schools, ministry agencies and retired priests. In 2007, the remainder of the archdiocese’s 151 parishes will take part in the Legacy for Our Mission campaign and we expect to exceed our $100 million goal with your continued support.

Parishes reap benefits of campaign

A key component of the Legacy for Our Mission campaign is that each parish puts together its own case for support or list of priorities for how it wants to use its portion of the campaign funds. Every parish in the archdiocese will realize immediate and long-term benefits from this campaign. Here are a few examples of how parishes have chosen to use their funds:

• Holy Family Parish in New Albany has kicked off its Legacy for Our Mission campaign and plans to use the proceeds to update and maintain its 50-year-old facilities. The renovations are to include the addition of a new structure on the east side of the church, which will consist of an entrance and a restroom that will be accessible to all. The improvements will also involve relocating both sacristies and increasing and elevating the sanctuary in the worship space.
• St. John the Baptist Parish in Dover is using its Legacy for Our Mission campaign proceeds for the construction of a new parish hall. The funds raised by the parishioners will also be used for re-carpeting the church and bringing the existing buildings in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act.
• St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Bedford will use the proceeds of its Legacy for Our Mission campaign to build a new parish life center. The proposed space will connect the main buildings of the parish community, which include the church, school, adoration chapel and offices. The future parish life center will provide much-needed space that will be used by a diverse group of parishioners to enhance worship and prayer, to teach and serve, and to come together as a community.
• Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ Parish in Indianapolis has three campaign goals that will enhance its legacy to deliver spiritual service and community enrichment. Parishioners hope to use the campaign proceeds to connect to city water and sewer, expand parish parking facilities and increase exterior lighting. Parishioners also hope to match an anonymous $50,000 challenge grant designated for parish families unable to afford a Catholic education on their own.

Canonization of Mother Theodore Guérin

On Oct. 15, 2006, the Church in Indiana celebrated a historic moment with the canonization of St. Theodora Guérin. I had the privilege of leading a pilgrimage from our archdiocese to Rome and concelebrating the canonization Mass with Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter’s Square.

St. Theodora, who founded the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods near Terre Haute in 1840, is a gift from God to the universal Church and a special joy for our archdiocese. I have received approval from the Holy See to name St. Theodora patroness of our archdiocese. St. Theodora inspires us by her heroic faith and, if you will, we now have our own saint—along with our patron St. Francis Xavier—who prays that our local Church might have strength and protection.

We are honoring the legacy of St. Theodora by celebrating a series of Masses throughout the archdiocese—one in each deanery. The first Mass was held at St. Joan of Arc Parish in Indianapolis on Oct. 29, 2006 and 10 more Masses will be celebrated in 2007. Everyone in the archdiocese is invited to participate in these Masses.

Catholic schools recognized

Building on the legacy of St. Theodora Guérin, who began opening Catholic schools in central and southern Indiana in the 1840s, our archdiocesan schools continued in 2006 to be recognized for their achievement and commitment to excellence.

The U.S. Department of Education honored six archdiocesan schools with its Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence award this year. The six schools receiving the award were Christ the King School in Indianapolis, Father Michael Shawe Memorial Jr./Sr. High School in Madison, St. Bartholomew School in Columbus, St. Lawrence School in Indianapolis, St. Lawrence School in Lawrenceburg and St. Monica School in Indianapolis. In the past four years, 21 different schools in the archdiocese have earned the Blue Ribbon distinction. No other diocese in the United States has matched that record.

Vocations

We now have 28 seminarians in formation. We are continuing to expand our efforts to recruit more young men for priestly ministry.

Two years ago we dedicated a house of formation on the Marian College campus in Indianapolis. The endeavor has been such a success that we changed the name from the Bishop Bruté House of Formation to the Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary with the start of the 2006-07 academic year to better describe the initiative. We now have 15 seminarians for the archdiocese residing at the Bishop Bruté seminary as well as two seminarians for the Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana and one seminarian for the Diocese of Evansville.

Last June, we ordained one man to the priesthood: Father Scott Nobbe, who is my liaison for Hispanic ministry. In June 2007, we hope to ordain three more men to the priesthood.

Please continue to pray for vocations and for our seminarians. Ask the Lord to send more workers for the harvest. And please pray for your priests.

City Future Task Force

In the process of reviewing our leadership strategic plan and reports from projects such as the Catholic Urban School Consortium, the Home Mission Task Force and the Future Staffing Task Force, the need for a new and important initiative became apparent. It concerns future development of our archdiocesan presence in the downtown and near downtown areas of Indianapolis.

On Oct. 30, 2006 the City Future Task Force, which is made up of clergy and lay leaders, held its first meeting to begin considering how the archdiocese can best carry out its mission in the downtown Indianapolis area as well as best minister to a growing Hispanic community in the downtown and near downtown area. Two working groups—the Downtown Parish Life Task Force and the Hispanic Ministry Task Force—will spend the next nine months exploring these issues and will develop recommendations to be included in a combined City Future Task Force report to tentatively be submitted to me by Oct. 1, 2007.

I have no preconceived notions about the direction our efforts should take in this area. I await the City Future Task Force report.

Terre Haute Deanery education study

A task force made up of representatives from the archdiocese and each of the parishes in the Terre Haute Deanery is working with a consulting group to study how we can best carry out our ministry of providing Catholic education throughout the deanery. The group expects to have a report ready to deliver to the Office of Catholic Education by March 2007.

Conclusion

In the past year, we have continued to respond to the Lord’s call in our new moment of grace, but there is still much work to do. As we continue to build on our legacy for the future, let us never forget that our mission flows from Christ and is nourished through prayer.

Thank you for your support and God bless you!

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Rev. Daniel M. Buechlein, O.S.B.

Archbishop of Indianapolis