2011-12 Accountability Report

Letter from Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin

Dear Friends in Christ:

I am pleased to present this special supplement to The Criterion, which gives an accounting of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis’ finances for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2012. The past year has brought many changes to the Archdiocese and for me personally. In the years to come, I intend to make this report more timely.

I am deeply appreciative of the warm welcome I have received across central and southern Indiana since my appointment as Archbishop last October by Pope Benedict XVI. Following my Mass of Installation on December 3, 2012 – the feast of St. Francis Xavier, the principal patron of the Archdiocese – I promised to get out into the Archdiocese to meet as many of you as possible. Since that time, I have visited many of the 39 counties in the Archdiocese, celebrated Masses in each of the 11 deaneries and have had the pleasure of confirming hundreds of our young men and women.

It has been a great blessing to meet so many people who are enthusiastic about their Catholic faith and who share their time, talents and treasure with our Church. Your faith strengthens my faith. I am also grateful for all of our dedicated clergy, religious, lay leaders and archdiocesan staff. My goal is to build on the foundation laid down by my predecessors and to count on the help of the Holy Spirit in providing a vision that will enable us to walk together with confidence toward a hopeful future.

Overall, while the Archdiocese of Indianapolis is in good spiritual and financial shape, there are many challenges to address as we move forward. To perform our mission of living the Gospel by worshiping God in word and sacrament; learning, teaching and sharing our faith; and serving human needs, we must be good stewards of our resources. We must carefully manage our expenses in relation to the available funding.

In addressing the Archdiocese’s financial demands, we need to remember that our highest priority is to bring people to Jesus Christ and eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Blessed John Paul II said that “all pastoral initiatives—what the Church is about—have to be, and must be, set in holiness.” As a people of God we are all called to a life of holiness and invited to respond with faith. God has given us a great gift by making us his chosen people, but we must make a deliberate decision to be Christian. Faith requires great trust, and we need to pray continually and ask God where He is leading us.

In the coming months you will be hearing much more about the archdiocesan planning process Connected in the Spirit, which continues a study begun in the Terre Haute Deanery in 2010. Connected in the Spirit, which involves pastoral and lay representatives from each parish, is designed to help us look at all of our parish resources, strengths and weaknesses and to align the parishes in such a way that we can most effectively carry out the mission God has given us.

The Batesville Deanery recently completed Connected in the Spirit and I will be announcing the final results in the near future. There will be some mergers and closing of parishes. Understandably, some people will be sad and will feel a great loss, but I ask that everyone trust that we are moving in the direction God is leading us, and that in the end we will be even more effective at proclaiming the Gospel.

The 47 parishes that make up the Indianapolis deaneries have begun the Connected in the Spirit planning process and representatives from each of the parishes are working together to examine their ministries, parish demographics and other important data. Eventually, all of the parishes of the Archdiocese will take part in Connected in the Spirit.

I hope you will take some time to study this report. In the following three pages you will find detailed information about our annual stewardship appeal and other stewardship efforts. You also will find a financial statement and charts that highlight the Archdiocese’s financial position.

I am honored to serve as your Archbishop. We have much to be thankful for in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. Let us look with hope and confidence to the future, trusting that the Lord is with us always.

Thank you for your support and God bless you!

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R.
Archbishop of Indianapolis