The Importance of the Catholic Services Appeal
The Catholic Services Appeal is the annual invitation to the people of the Archdiocese of Louisville to support the ministries and programs offered through the local Church. As one of the three principal sources of funding for the work of archdiocesan agencies and offices, the Appeal plays a vital role in the ability of the Archdiocese to carry out its more than one hundred ministries and programs that seek to bring Christ to others.
Families, Individuals, Parishes, and Schools Benefit from the Appeal
Archdiocesan programs and ministries funded by the Catholic Services Appeal benefit families, individuals, parishes and schools throughout the Archdiocese of Louisville. Here is a small sampling of the work that was accomplished during the past year:
Charity and Outreach
- Established a free medical clinic at Sister Visitor Center and served 350 patients.
- Provided emergency assistance to 13,602 for rent, utilities, food, clothing, personal and household items, and prescriptions.
- Provided 721 mothers and fathers-to-be with education, information and counseling, baby items, and referral to community agencies.
- Assisted 19 individuals who were victims of human trafficking and trained 2,135 individuals to provide services to address this human tragedy.
- Responded to concerns and assisted with mediation for 6,551 residents in long-term care facilities.
- Resettled 803 refugees; provided services and placed 609 in the local workforce; and taught 607 in English School.
- Assisted 3,085 low-income immigrants with various immigration legal proceedings.
- Sponsored four “Back to School Fairs” in the metro Louisville area at CEC, and in the rural community, which served more than 700 families.
Strengthening Families and Individuals
- Held marriage preparation classes or retreats for 409 couples and marriage enrichment opportunities for 75 couples.
- Provided counseling services for 523 clients.
- Organized an archdiocesan pilgrimage of 139 youth and adults to the March for Life in Washington, D.C.
- Provided hours of formation in preparation and follow-up to the implementation of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal including programs for clergy, parish leadership, and the lay faithful.
- Provided parishes, liturgical ministers, and parishioners multiple published materials for the implementation of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal, including a parish training guide, presbyteral resource guide, deacon guide, liturgical musicians guide, and a parishioner’s guide.
- Held youth “Walk for Life” in downtown Louisville.
- Trained 100 individuals for marriage preparation, enrichment, and natural family planning ministries.
- Received 215 marriage cases and completed decisions in 157 cases.
Creating a Culture of Religious Vocations
- Ordained 3 men to the priesthood and 4 men to the transitional diaconate.
- Welcomed 4 new seminarians, making 17 the total of priest-candidates in formation.
- Recruited 20 new deacon-candidates to participate in the deacon formation class of 2016 and completed formation for 15 deacon-candidates in the class of 2012 who will be ordained this year.
- Sponsored one man to live in the House of Discernment, which is an opportunity to live in a parish community under the supervision of the pastor.
- Welcomed 14 men in discernment groups, which is an ongoing opportunity for men who are considering priesthood to gather in prayer, share a meal, and spend time together in conversation about the discernment process and priestly vocations.
- Held first Vocation Awareness Conference, “Bringing Christ to Others: Creating a Culture of Vocations,” with 25 attending.
- Visited 1,200 students at schools and parishes to talk about vocations. Presenters included diocesan priests, religious community priests, sisters, and men and women in formation.
- Welcomed 435 students, priests, youth ministers, and other adults from 11 counties of Archdiocese to the annual Dinner with the Archbishop.
Lifelong Formation and Education
- Held 220 adult formation classes on a variety of faith-based topics for 2,072 catechists, Catholic school teachers, and adult learners.
- Led a delegation of 400 people to the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis.
- Completed national training for TEC (Teens and Twenties Encounter Christ) so that the Archdiocese can become a TEC Center.
- Staffed and coordinated all of Catholic campus ministry programming at the University of Louisville including weekly liturgies for 150-170 students, mission trips on spring break, Why Catholic? student groups, and participation in Kentucky Catholic Students Coalition.
- Trained 66 catechists who completed the requirements for catechist certification – 27 associate catechists, 19 advanced catechists and 20 master catechists.
Worship, Prayer, and Evangelization
- Archbishop Kurtz selected as one of five bishops from the United States to attend the October 2012 synod on the “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith” in Rome.
- Provided more than 1,200 hours of pastoral visitation to patients at Baptist East Hospital, Kosair Children’s Hospital, and University of Louisville Hospital.
- Held two seasons of the Why Catholic? process in Archdiocese as an effort to help form and support an evangelizing faith in Jesus Christ, with 7,000 parishioners participating.
- Held a day of reflection focusing for African American community on the new evangelization with 350 participants.
- Helped plan and carry out Men’s Conference for 417 men; created and managed Facebook and web page for conference.
- Welcomed 465 new members who entered the Church at the Easter Vigil at the Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion. Fifty additional individuals were received throughout the year, making a total of 515 initiations for the Archdiocese.
- Developed a new electronic Catholic Connection Newsletter, which was distributed to 13,000 subscribers.
- Served the community with 39,729 interactions with individuals through a wide variety of intergenerational programming at the Catholic Enrichment Center.
