2005 Accountability Report

A Letter from Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein

Dear Friends in Christ:

During this last fiscal year, we have continued to respond to the Lord’s call in our new moment of grace. This call bids us to act with hope and generosity regarding the opportunities being given to our archdiocese in the early years of this new millennium.
As I’ve said before, this new moment of grace is as old as the Church itself. It comes to us from across the ages—across 2,000 years of Christian faith and witness and across 171 years of faith and devotion here in central and southern Indiana.
This new moment of grace encourages us to rejoice in our blessings, and it also enables us to meet and deal with the challenges we face.

Archdiocesan Operating Budget

I want to let you know that the archdiocesan operational budget is in good shape. The budget for the 2004-2005 fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2005, came in with a small, positive balance. The budget for the current fiscal year was approved by the Archdiocesan Finance Council with a $221,000 surplus. We are planning to work into our budget a gradual payback for previous deficits.

United Catholic Appeal

The 2004 United Catholic Appeal was a great success. Under the leadership of David and Tessa Milroy of St. Bartholomew Parish in Columbus, pledges reached more than $5.6 million, or 103 percent of the goal. Thanks to all of you for your support of this annual appeal for our home missions and our shared ministries. The generosity of your response to the many needs facing the Church we all love so much is very edifying.

Response to natural disasters

Your generosity rightly extends beyond your parish and your archdiocese. The response of Catholics in central and southern Indiana to the natural disasters our country and our world has been experiencing has been extraordinary.
The archdiocesan Missions Office received nearly $605,000 from parishes and individuals following the Southeast Asian tsunami in late December 2004. School children of the archdiocese contributed $30,000 to the World Food Program that worked with tsunami victims. The Missions Office also received more than $811,000 for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Catholic school children contributed nearly $28,000.
Our local Church is blessed with so many generous people.

Catholic Charities Summit

In early October, about 150 Catholic Charities agency directors, advisory council members, employees and volunteers from every part of the archdiocese gathered for the second Catholic Charities Summit. We believe that it is the first time in the history of the archdiocese that so many different people involved with ministry to the poor and vulnerable came together for prayer and a special program.
The keynote speaker in the afternoon was Father Larry Snyder, the president of Catholic Charities USA, the national organization. Nationally, Catholic Charities agencies provide aid to more than 7 million people and have combined budgets of about $3 billion.
The archdiocese recently harmonized the names of the various social services agencies to show their connectivity and interrelatedness. The summit was to put the individual agencies and their ministries in both an archdiocesan and national context. I believe we made a good start.

Loss of Priests

Since last February, our archdiocese has suffered the loss of seven priests: Father William Stineman, Msgr. Francis R. Tuohy, Father John F. Dede, Msgrs. Jack Ryan and Louis Marchino, and Fathers Justin Martin and Clarence Waldon.
As you can imagine, it is very difficult to deal with the loss of so many fine men in only a six-month period.

Future parish staffing

We will miss these seven priests very much, but their deaths bring home the reality we are facing as a Church and that is the shrinking number of priests.
In June, a committee of our archdiocesan strategic planning task force announced a series of recommendations aimed at staffing our parishes in the future. The committee did a fine job. Their recommendations—made after consulting with some 700 pastors, parish life coordinators, and parish leaders over a two-year period—will serve as our resource guide as future staffing needs occur.

Vocations

We now have 26 seminarians in formation. But that number is not large enough to keep pace with the growth in the Catholic population. We will continue to expand our efforts to recruit more young people for priestly ministry.
On Sept. 8, 2004, we dedicated the Bishop Bruté House of Formation at Marian College in Indianapolis. Through the house of formation, we hope to establish a “culture of vocations” among our young people. This academic year, we have 10 young men studying and living in the house. They attend regular classes with the other Marian students, but they also attend daily Mass, and they pray Morning and Evening Prayer together.
Last June, we ordained two men to the priesthood: Fathers Bill Williams and Shaun Whittington. This June, we hope to ordain one.
Please pray for more vocations and for our seminarians. Ask the Lord to send more workers for the harvest. And please pray for your priests. They are going to need the love and support of all of us now and in the years to come.

New capital campaign

The Legacy for Our Mission: For Our Children and the Future continues to move ahead. It is a parish-based campaign, in which all of the funds raised for parish ministries and collective, or archdiocesan, priorities, will support parishes, schools, ministry agencies, and retired priests.
As an archdiocese, we have a lengthy list of projects. We can’t do everything. Therefore, we were forced to prioritize—to develop a list of the major areas that need our attention the most. Five areas of need were identified: education, home missions, Catholic Charities, future ministry, and our ministries of care, including the care of our retired priests, our cathedral, and Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House.
You will be hearing much more about this campaign as we move forward.

Protecting Our Children

The Archdiocese of Indianapolis enhanced its safe environment training for the protection of children and young people. In addition to its own ongoing policies and procedures, called To Be Safe and Secure, the archdiocese began offering “Protecting God’s Children,” the National Catholic Risk Retention Group’s Virtus training program, which explains facts and dispels myths about child abuse.
Two audits—one released in February 2004, the second in October 2005—by the Gavin Group reported that our archdiocese is in full compliance with the U.S. Church’s “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.”

Cause for Canonization

On Sept. 12, 2005, in the presence of the postulator and vice postulator, the formal canonical opening took place of the Cause of Beatification and Canonization of the Servant of God Simon Bruté, our first bishop. It is the first required step in the investigation.
The apostolic zeal, humility, simplicity, determination, courage and confidence in God’s will make Bishop Bruté a splendid model for all Catholics of our day. He is a relevant model for all who are involved in furthering the ministry of the Church. He was arguably the most influential theologian of the Church in the United States in his day. His commitment to faithful prayer and his deep love for the Holy Eucharist highlighted his generous ministry to his people. Indeed, the holiness of Bishop Bruté is a wonderful example and inspiration for all lay people and religious women and men.
I encourage everyone to promote public knowledge about our holy first bishop and to spread the word about his cause for canonization. Bishop Bruté is a worthy intercessor for healing and for our own holiness. Learning about his life also tells us and our children much about the founding of the Church in Indiana.

Conclusion

In 1834, Simon Bruté, began a spiritual mission that we must carry on for those who will come after us.
The Church’s mission is always ancient and always new. We carry out this mission by following in the footsteps of those who have gone before us. Most of us have had our faith passed on to us by our parents and grandparents, and we are called to continue the good work that was begun here by pioneers of faith who came from distant lands.
We must think about our future—how we will continue to grow as a Church and how we will attend to and manage that growth. We must be forward-thinking—much like Bishop Bruté was in his own time. We must realize that what we do now will affect the generations that succeed us.
Thank you for your support and for your
generosity of heart. God bless you!

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Rev. Daniel M. Buechlein, O.S.B.
Archbishop of Indianapolis