Accountability Report
Accountability Report
Chief Financial Officer's Report
Diocese’s finances serve ever-increasing needs
By Mary Beth Koenig
Chief Financial Officer
The Austin Diocese continues to be one of the fastest growing dioceses in the country. Despite this phenomenal growth, our central administrative offices completed another year with increased revenue and a strong financial position. During 2006 to meet its growing needs, the diocese began an historic effort, the Our Faith ~ Our Legacy campaign, to establish endowments and provide capital for clergy formation, retired priests, Catholic education and formation and Catholic Charities.
The financial needs of the Austin Diocese are affected not only by a growing population, but by significantly rising costs. For instance, health care costs and college tuition continue to rise at rates faster than inflation. Unfortunately, health care for our priests and education for our seminarians are not immune to these rapid increases. Additionally, the need for services to the poor and immigrant populations continue to rise.
We have been blessed with dedicated service by many wonderful priests in Central Texas. The number of retired priests in the diocese continues to increase as life expectancies increase. As they retire, we are now able to offer them a 16-unit residential center, the John Paul II Residence for Priests, in Georgetown. The campus also includes a community center and chapel. This facility was blessed and dedicated last summer. The cost of building and furnishing the John Paul II Residence for Priests was approximately $4,600,000. More than $4 million of this cost will be funded by the Our Faith ~ Our Legacy campaign.
Additionally, funds from the capital campaign will be placed in an endowment to assist with other needs of our retired priests, such as health care and long-term care. The diocese funds health insurance for retired priests and provides financial assistance to those retired priests with special needs who reside in assisted living and nursing home facilities from its operating budget. Capital campaign funds will assist with these financial needs.
The Diocese of Austin continues to be blessed with a large number of seminarians. During the fiscal years ended June 30, 2005 and 2006, there were 27 and 31 seminarians, respectively. Currently there are 38 seminarians. The diocese provides the cost of seminarian education and formation seeing it as an investment in the future leadership of our church. Due to the dramatic increase in the cost of college tuition, we will establish an endowment for seminarian education from contributions to the Our Faith ~ Our Legacy campaign to ensure that we are able to continue to provide quality formation and education for our future priests.
After a fire completely destroyed Our Lady’s Family Center in east Austin in 2004, the diocese spent approximately $1,425,000 to construct and furnish a new center that was completed in 2006. The Center is now occupied by Catholic Charities of Central Texas, the Social Concerns Office, Black Catholics Office and the Gabriel Project Life Center. These expanded facilities include new services such as a food pantry, and we have provided increased financial support to offer more and better services to the poor, immigrants and women experiencing unplanned pregnancies. An endowment created with funds from the campaign will be used to provide financial assistance to Catholic Charities in the future.
Our significant growth will continue to provide financial challenges. With the restructuring of diocesan parish and school debt in 2005 through tax-exempt and bank financing, the diocese now has the capital needed to provide loans at much lower rates to parishes and schools for expanded and new facilities. With the tremendous success of the Our Faith ~ Our Legacy campaign, the diocese is in a better position to meet the urgent needs of seminarian education, care for retired priests, continued expansion of facilities and Catholic schools, youth, young adult and campus ministry programs and care for the poor and vulnerable.
We are thankful for your generous and consistent financial support. The commitment to your faith through your financial contributions is providing a legacy which will nurture the Catholic faith of future generations.