by Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann
Several members of the archdiocese have inquired about the progress of the One Faith, One Family, One Future in Christ campaign and the status of the projects and ministries designated to be funded by the campaign. The total dollars pledged is $44,147,421. More than $34,000,000 of the pledges has been received.
The cost to conduct the One Faith campaign was $5.6 million. We anticipated during the years the One Faith campaign was being conducted that the donations to the annual Archbishop’s Call to Share Appeal would experience a modest decrease. The One Faith campaign provided $600,000 to Call to Share over the course of the past three years in order to keep our educational, pastoral and charitable ministries properly funded.
The first case item funded by the campaign was $1 million for evangelization. Contributions to the One Faith campaign helped to fund the Enflame Our Hearts convocation in October 2019. We continue to utilize funds from the One Faith campaign to provide assistance and resources to parishes in their ongoing efforts to share the truth and beauty of our Catholic faith with others.
At the beginning of March, I will break ground for a new priests’ retirement residence. $10,400,000 of the campaign funds has been designated for the retirement residence — half ($5,200,000) for the construction costs and the other half ($5,200,000) for an endowment. The endowment earnings will be used for an annual contribution to assist with the operational costs for the priests’ retirement residence.
An additional $6,600,000 from the One Faith campaign will allow us to fund fully the estimated health care costs for priests during their retirement years as well as to increase modestly their monthly pension benefit. The increased pension benefit for our retired priests begins July 1, 2022.
In late June of this year, renovations will begin at Villa St. Francis, the skilled nursing center operated by the archdiocese in Olathe. Approximately 70% of the residents served by Villa St. Francis rely on Medicaid to fund their care.
The cost of the renovation for Villa St. Francis is $4.8 million. In order to renovate the facility, we will temporarily serve fewer residents as we rotate the closure of each of the wings to allow for construction. This will reduce the operational income for Villa St. Francis. The One Faith campaign will provide between $500,000 to $1 million to help fund operations for Villa St. Francis during the renovation.
The One Faith campaign will also create a Parish Property Revitalization Fund that will assist communities that have undergone consolidations of churches and/or schools. These parishes often have too many buildings but not the properly designed space for the current needs of the community. The Property Revitalization Fund will help qualifying parishes to repurpose or in some cases demolish unnecessary buildings. Our goal for the Property Revitalization Fund is $5 million. Currently, we estimate that we are more than $1 million short of this goal. This spring, we will invite qualifying parishes to submit applications for grants.
One fourth of donations to the One Faith campaign assists the donor’s parish. Parishes have already received more than $5.2 million to assist with parish capital repairs and ministerial needs. As the remainder of pledged funds are collected, parishes will receive an estimated additional $4 million.
Several parishes requested and were granted permission to conduct a co-campaign. These parishes conducted a campaign for specified capital needs of the parish that also included a predetermined parish commitment to the One Faith campaign. The co-campaign parishes contributed $6,448,949 to the $44,147,421 that was raised by the One Faith campaign. The co-campaign parishes raised an additional almost $22,000,000 for their parish capital projects.
The One Faith campaign was an amazing success. The parishes are the biggest beneficiaries of the campaign, with our retired priests a close second. The current and future residents of Villa St. Francis for years to come will enjoy the renovation and improvements to their facility.
The Enflame Our Hearts convocation jump-started our ongoing evangelization efforts by inspiring and equipping a team of lay leaders for every parish to develop and help implement an evangelization plan for their community.
Nevertheless, the Covid pandemic did have a negative impact on the One Faith campaign. Two of our three cohorts of parishes conducted the campaign during the pandemic. We had hoped to invest $10 million in Savior Pastoral Center in order to repair infrastructure, make the facility handicap accessible and to renovate sections of the building. Unfortunately, based on our current campaign pledges, none of this renovation will be possible.
Pre-Covid, more than 60,000 individuals used Savior for retreats, conferences and other events. As we emerge from Covid, the reservations for Savior are approaching our pre-Covid numbers. I hope, in the not too distant future, we will find the resources to renovate Savior.
Just since the first of the year, one married couple made an amazing $1.1 million donation to the One Faith campaign. Praise God! This past year, I completed my personal five-year pledge to the One Faith campaign. I have decided to extend my pledge for another year. If you have been blessed and are able to extend your pledge, it will help us to fund fully the Parish Property Revitalization project and maybe even address some of the necessary infrastructure repairs at Savior.
If you have not yet made a donation to the One Faith campaign, it is not too late to do so. Please contact our stewardship and development office. They will be pleased to assist you.
I never cease to be amazed at the generosity of the people of the archdiocese. Thank you to all those who contributed to the One Faith campaign. Thank you for all those who annually support Call to Share. Thank you for the many who generously support Catholic Charities, the Catholic Education Foundation, Donnelly College, this year’s special Respect Life Fund and so many other Catholic ministries and causes. Thank you for your support of our Catholic secondary and elementary schools.
Most of all, thanks for your generous support to your parish family.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
