Accountability Report
Accountability Report
Bishop's Message
Our gifts are realized through recent campaign
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
I am pleased to present in this special supplement to the Catholic Spirit the annual accountability report, which covers the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, for the Austin Diocese. This report includes financial information for the central administrative and pastoral offices of the diocese, as well as summaries of our 125 parishes’ finances and the special collections that we use to support the work of the church locally, nationally and universally.
In addition, it gives me great pleasure to present to you a report on the Our Faith ~ Our Legacy campaign. This historic event, the first capital campaign for our diocese, has not only been a tremendous financial success, but also provided opportunities for a spiritual renewal in our diocese.
I have heard many stories from the more than 2,200 volunteers who helped gather nearly $83 million in pledges for the work of our church. They tell me of how phone calls and personal visits became moments of evangelization and welcome for people, as they were able to welcome back some who had not been active in their faith, and to encourage others to consider their commitment to their parish and the larger community.
For many of us, the Our Faith ~ Our Legacy campaign became an opportunity to realize how much God has blessed us in our lives, and to reflect on how we are responding to those gifts from God. The response of more than 25,000 families to the campaign means that many understand the importance of our response to God’s generosity.
The Our Faith ~ Our Legacy campaign will allow our local church, the diocese, to strengthen existing programs and provide more services and benefits for our Catholic families in Central Texas for decades to come. This campaign will create dedicated funds for the education and formation of our seminarians, strengthen pension and medical benefits for our priests and provide them housing, elevate parish religious education programs, provide additional funding for youth programs, address the needs of the poor through Catholic Charities, build up our Catholic schools endowment, create challenge grants for our campus ministry programs and support our parishes in addressing their own needs through parish rebates.
Finally, we want to build on the success of this campaign and provide more education and formation regarding the Catholic vision of stewardship. Our faith is a precious gift from God, and what we do in response to that gift is the legacy by which each one of us will be remembered by future generations.
In thanksgiving for your generosity and faithfulness, I am,
Gratefully yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Gregory M. Aymond
Bishop of Austin