Archdiocese of Cincinnati by the numbers
480,000: Catholics members
160,000: Registered households
85,984: Students under Catholic instruction*
1,001: Religious sisters and brothers
275: Diocesan priests
237: Religious order priests
213: Parishes
201: Permanent deacons
19: Counties served
*Elementary, high school and college students
The Archdiocese of Cincinnati Friday announced a “historic” campaign to raise $130 million as well as the creation of a foundation to oversee how that newly raised money is spent to serve the region’s nearly 480,000 Catholics.
It's the archdiocese's biggest campaign in 60 years. Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis Schnurr said the money will be raised to strengthen parishes and schools for "decades to come."
“When it comes to building the Kingdom of God, we have an insatiable need, an unlimited need, because we’re never complete in our work, in our ministry,” said Michael Vanderburgh, chief development officer for the archdiocese as well as corporate-secretary and board member of the newly created Catholic Community Foundation.
The need in the archdiocese’s 19 counties has only been sharpened by the recent recession, Vanderburgh said. Regular annual campaigns will continue, but his analogy is that while all households pay monthly bills, they will need a new roof for their homes every 25 years.
Ordinary needs largely funded through the annual Catholic Ministries Appeal — going forward now — will continue, Vanderburgh said.
“This campaign is about long-term sustainability,” Vanderburgh said. “It’s about long-term support, it’s about helping to upgrade our infrastructure, to better serve the community through more volunteer engagement and technology.”
Dubbed “One Faith, One, Hope, One Love,” the campaign already has had an initial phase in 13 parishes, the archdiocese said.
In a story in the official archdiocesan newspaper, The Catholic Telegraph, Vanderburgh said participating pilot parishes pledged more than $35 million. “We had hoped to reach $15 million by this phase of the campaign,” he said. “That’s why we’re so pleased with the very positive results thus far.”
St. Helen’s and Immaculate Conception parishes in Dayton participated in the pilot phase, Vanderburgh said. So did St. Henry, just south of Coldwater, about 30 minutes north of Greenville. St. Helen and Immaculate Conception share two priests.
Rev. James Manning, president of Archbishop Alter High School and former pastor of St. Albert the Great parish, both in Kettering, said a long-term fund-raising focus is overdue.
“It means a lot to me,” Manning said.
The need in particular for tuition assistance has grown stronger over time, he said. Alter says all of its students receive financial assistance.
“I think to the degree we can help financial aid, for the families to come here, friends of our high school, I surely endorse this,” Manning said. “I think it’s overdue.”
“Catholic schools enable the church to live its mission more fully,” he added.
The archdiocese has more than 44,000 students in 113 schools, though they have either closed or consolidated 23 schools since 2002.
Half of the money raised will go to tuition assistance ($50 million) and education ($15 million), the archdiocese said. The other half will be directed to parishes, encouraging vocations to the priesthood, care for retired priests and the archdiocese’s charities/social services arm.
“I ask all of you — as individuals and families — for your prayerful consideration concerning the historic opportunity for stewardship being offered by the One Faith, One Hope, One Love campaign,” Schnurr said in a letter included in the Catholic Telegraph, which is published monthly.
The archdiocese is the 38th largest Catholic diocese in the United States and has the sixth largest network of Catholic schools in terms of number of students.
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