| "Thy Kingdom Come":
New Beginnings in a Long Walk Together
To the Clergy, Religious and Laity of the Church of Pittsburgh
"Thy Kingdom come" is a prayer Christians have
offered to God since Jesus was with us in the flesh. It expresses
our longing that what has begun among us will be brought to
glorious completion. It also speaks of our own understanding
that the process of building up God's kingdom starts afresh
in the hearts of each generation. The coming of the kingdom
in every age has new beginnings.
New beginnings is the term I use to describe this moment
we share in the life of the Church of Pittsburgh. Over the
months as I have visited many of the parishes and institutions
that serve the people of God in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh,
I have spoken of our new beginnings and heard some of your
hopes, concerns and aspirations. As we start our efforts together
I want to talk with you about what I envision in our new beginnings--what
it means to me and how I see it unfolding in the future.
Christ is our Beginning
Our new beginnings go back to the first great beginning
for the Church. Christ is the beginning and the end. As followers
of Jesus Christ, we look to Him for our direction---and the
beginning of all we do.
What we are doing is what Christ came to proclaim and do.
It is as new and fresh, as ancient and tried, as is the proclamation
of Jesus: "the kingdom of God is at hand". The Gospel
message begins with the declaration by Jesus that "This
is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is near"
(Mk. 1.15). His life, brief yet intense, was given not only
to the announcement of the kingdom but to the effort to realize
that kingdom in our midst. Scripture tells us that at a certain
time Jesus "began to teach and to do...." (Acts.
1.1). His work was both proclamation and action. And He invited
others to join Him.
The Kingdom of God...among us
The fullness of the kingdom of God---the glory of the Father---has
already begun to break into our world and our lives. The reality
of Jesus--risen and in glory--is already present on earth
because of the faith and love that God pours into our hearts.
Its full glory may not yet appear but the beginnings are already
here. In this sense, the Second Vatican Council described
the mission of the Church: "The Church, like a pilgrim
in a foreign land, presses forward amid the persecutions of
the world and the consolations of God announcing the cross
and death of the Lord until He comes' (1 Cor. 11.26). By the
power of the risen Lord, she is given strength to overcome
patiently and lovingly the afflictions and hardships which
assail her from within and without, and to show forth in the
world the mystery of the Lord in a faithful though shadowed
way, until at last it will be revealed in full light"
(Lumen Gentium, 8).
The Church carries on the work of Christ
The Church is the visible, precious and indispensable gift
of Christ. Its task on earth will not be finished until Christ
brings His redemptive work to completion and God has become,
as St. Paul puts it, "all, and in all" (Col. 3.11).
In the meantime, the Church takes up the work of the Lord.
Its wondrous mission is carried out by us--frail yet called
and gifted humans. In doing this work we help to bring about
the kingdom of God. We build up the Body of Christ--we make
up what is lacking in the suffering of Christ---we build the
kingdom of God in our midst---in our time---for our moment.
There is a lot to do. There always has been. But it is our
moment now to address the needs of our sisters and brothers.
There are needs both physical and spiritual. Our age hungers
for spiritual values. We know we cannot live by bread alone.
We also recognize there are wounds to heal. We can never feel
at ease as long as there are those who are hungry, lonely,
without shelter, those broken by despair, drugs or unemployment,
those who drop out and never get a second chance. We want
to be the first to be alert to the pain that even attitudes
can mindlessly inflict. Racism, sexism, forms of insensitivity
to the needs of others hinder the building of the kingdom
among us.
At the same time, we know that the answer to these and many
more human problems is found in Christ and His Gospel. "Seek
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all the
rest will be given to you" (Matt. 6.33).
That kingdom present in its beginnings in God's Church, we
are taught by the United States Bishops in their very first
collective pastoral letter, The Church in our Day, "does
not hover formlessly over the cities or exist unseen among
the nations of the world. The People of God, the Body of Christ,
the Temple of the Holy Spirit, His Church is organized, structured
and visible" (Ch. 2). The kingdom of God comes to be
in our midst through our faith, our love and the works that
flow from the Spirit we receive and live. As the Church prays
in the liturgy for blessings on our works: "...By doing
the work you have entrusted to us may we sustain our life
on earth and build up your kingdom in faith."
This is not an idle wish or a rhetorical device. Jesus rose
from the dead and gave to us in the form of his own Spirit
the power to renew the face of the earth. We are called a
new creation. We have put on a new body, the body of Jesus
Christ--whose members we are and who are asked, charged, challenged
and empowered to complete what Jesus began. The kingdom of
God is not a theological dream. It is us, it is a beginning,
it is coming to be in everything we do. It is a gift in all
of us for all of us.
The Catholic Church of Pittsburgh
The gift lives in the Catholic Church of Pittsburgh. We
are a visible expression of God's holy Church in this part
of the world. That is why I have chosen to speak of what we
do at this particular moment of our history as a new beginning.
The 150th anniversary of the founding of the diocese of Pittsburgh
is rapidly approaching. We are very close to the beginning
of another millennium of Christianity. And as we look forward---when
you and I cast our vision toward the future, to these new
beginnings--we do so very much aware that we are anchored
in our past. The future only has meaning and makes sense in
terms of our past.
We are heirs of the past...
We do not carry out our mission to believe, to love and
to share in a vacuum. We are a part of the history of our
diocese. Whatever we try to do we can only do standing on
the shoulders of those who went before us. But we also know
that our world and that of our parents, grandparents and the
founders of this diocese are different. Our challenges have
to be faced by us.
You and I, for the most part, are the children and grandchildren
of the people who founded this Church. Our forefathers and
mothers came here from all over the world. They came in search
of the American dream. They were confronted with challenges,
including ethnic and religious discrimination. They worked
hard. They built homes, schools, churches. They lived their
faith and built their lives. The South Side of Pittsburgh,
Ambridge, Waynesburg, Beaver Falls, Hilltop, Canonsburg, Butler,
New Castle, Wexford and many, many, more communities are all
part of our long and proud heritage. You and I are the heirs
to what they built. But we cannot stop there. We cannot take
our inheritance and bury it. We must use it to build for the
future.
...and builders of the future
Now we must assess what we have received and what we want
to do with it for the future. We must take account in a serious
and straightforward way of our institutions, our population,
our vocations, even our finances and ask not just "what
do we want to do?" but, "what can we do?" What
are our hopes? What are our limitations? We must continue
to dream dreams while also facing reality.
Another way of looking at it is the opening of a new chapter
in the book of life of our diocese. We know what was written
on the previous pages and we are grateful--profoundly grateful.
But it is now a new chapter and fresh pages on which we must
write. It is up to you and me together to make our mark on
those pages. They are clean. They are waiting. They are our
future. We must face the present so that what we write will
be fruitful for the future.
What are we called to do?
We can ask how do we do this? How do we use what we have
to build a strong foundation for the generations yet to come?
I do not have all the answers to the questions that we will
face. I cannot determine what will be the outcome of our studies,
prayers, works and aspirations. But I do know that whatever
we do, we must do it together, in the faith we share, and
in the love that is Jesus Christ.
We must walk, talk, and work together
One necessary element in our mutual effort is the sharing
of as much information as is possible. If we are going to
build for the future, consolidate, redefine, reorganize and
reevaluate the gifts that are ours, we have to share information
and ideas with each other. We have to share our aspirations,
our needs, our hopes, our dreams, and our data. We have to
talk with each other. This process is consultation. We will,
together, through various consultation processes face our
future and its challenges, and work towards solutions.
As part of the process, diocesan offices have already begun
in many ways to make available and digestible a great deal
of data. While Bishop of Pittsburgh, Archbishop Anthony Bevilacqua
initiated a program to collect and distribute the statistics
that speak of the changes in these recent years. Some of that
I would like to go over with you. Much of this information
is the result of the hard work of the Diocesan Office of Research
and Planning under the direction of Miss Mary Ann Pobicki.
Efforts have already been made to share it at meetings throughout
the diocese held by Miss Pobicki and Father Nicholas Dattilo,
the General Secretary of the diocese, as well as through articles
in The Pittsburgh Catholic. These presentations tell us of
a great deal of change.
Necessary information--data
The Federal Census Bureau was the first to document the
population changes in Southwestern Pennsylvania between 1970
and 1986. They tell us that the six counties (Allegheny, Beaver,
Butler, Greene, Lawrence and Washington) which are served
by the diocese of Pittsburgh, have lost a total population
of 222,000 people. The population has changed in more than
numbers. We are aging. There has been an increase in the 65
and older population across the counties. And we have lost
population in the younger group. In 1985, a diocesan Task
Force on Unemployment documented the jobless rate across the
six counties at between 16% and 25%. Some families have undoubtedly
left the area to seek work elsewhere. This may account, in
part, for fewer children and more elderly in the area.
Decline in population
Over that 10-year period from 1976 to 1986, the pastors
of our parishes reported an overall decline of almost 113,000
registered Catholics. These losses vary from county to county,
and tend to mirror overall population shifts. Allegheny and
Beaver Counties lost the most Catholics, while only Butler
County grew in its number of Catholics. Allegheny County lost
92,000 Catholics in this time period while Beaver lost 13,000.
Butler County grew by 2,500 Catholics, Greene County lost
400 Catholics and Lawrence County lost 2,400. Washington County
lost 7,000 Catholics.
The parishes in the central area of Allegheny County around
the City of Pittsburgh, the North Side, the South Side, the
East End, and those towns in the river valley along the Monongahela
experienced the greatest losses.
These population changes have seriously affected some parishes.
Of 333 parishes and missions in the diocese of Pittsburgh,
42 of them have lost over 45 percent of their population.
In that 10-year period, 86 other parishes have lost between
20 percent and 44 percent of their people. In some other areas,
meanwhile, parishes are growing much faster than expected.
Southwestern Butler County, together with the Northern edge
of Allegheny County, are examples of this growth.
Our Catholic schools
Both the public school and Catholic school population echoed
this pattern. Catholic elementary schools in this 10-year
period lost over 12,000 students, while Catholic high school
students dropped by 4,700. This, in turn, has led to the closing
of some schools and the consolidation of others.
There are other changes, too, that are affecting parishes,
diocesan schools, and other ministries as well--changes, for
example, in available number of ministers to serve our churches
and schools. During that 10-year period from 1976 to 1986
we have seen significant change in the numbers of sisters,
brothers, priests and lay ministers. The religious women are
our largest group of ministers but their numbers are dwindling.
Women Religious
Religious women who lived and worked in the diocese of Pittsburgh
in this 10-year period dropped from 2,555 to 2,140. There
are 400 fewer sisters in the diocese now than there were ten
years ago. Most of the sisters in the Pittsburgh diocese continue
to minister in the education and health care fields. More
and more, however, are moving from the full-time demands of
classrooms, principals' offices and hospitals into pre-retirment
or second career ministries, some as pastoral visitors, parish
social ministers, tutors, part-time aides and into a wide
variety of other works.
Diocesan priests
Though not as large a group, the diocesan priests show patterns
similar to the sisters. In 1977 there were 632 diocesan priests.
In 1986 there were 580. As with the sisters, there are fewer
coming into the priesthood and these numbers cannot offset
those lost through death and departures. Also, like the sisters'
group, the diocesan priests count fewer in their younger years
and more at or near retirement age.
Most of our diocesan priests are, where you would expect
them to be, in parish life. However, in the last 10 years,
there are 40 less priests in parish work and 20 more retired
than in 1976, and this trend is likely to continue. Over the
next 10 years, some 76 of our diocesan priests will reach
the age of retirement. Presently in our 8-year College and
Theology seminary system, there are 62 men studying for the
priesthood.
Religious brothers and priests
In addition to diocesan priests, the diocese is served by
a number of religious orders of priests and brothers. While
the number of religious order priests has stayed about the
same (there were 298 assigned to Pittsburgh in 1976 and 286
were assigned here in 1986), the number of religious brothers
has fallen from 77 to 46 over this same period of time. Most
of these brothers are teaching in diocesan high schools.
Lay ministry
Lay involvement, meanwhile, has increased in many areas.
Most of the teachers in our schools are lay. The number of
lay principals has increased from 6% to 23%. Those providing
leadership in parish religious education as directors or coordinators
of religious education in the parishes are approximately 60%
lay. More lay women and men are also working in parish youth
ministry, parish social ministries and in diocesan offices.
It is much harder to document the numbers of lay persons who
are working in volunteer services but we know there are very
many dedicated women and men serving in our 333 parishes and
missions. One indicator of this is that the diocese has certified
in the last 10 years over 6,000 lay catechists.
Vocations
We are responding to these changes in the ministerial population
in a variety of ways. The Diocesan Vocations Office and the
Sisters' Vocation Council are preparing new programs, and
already have some programs in our schools, CCD programs, and
college campuses. Nor do we wish to forget the place our personal
example and prayer can have in the encouragement of a vocation.
Vocation, religious life and priesthood are not merely patterns
of human behavior. They are also operations of divine grace,
and as such, they lie beyond our understanding. We shall never
really know why the graph turns up in one century and down
in another.
Clergy
In the diocesan office for our priests, the Secretariat
for Clergy and Pastoral Life, we are also trying to help our
priests in a variety of ways. There are programs for retirement,
continuing education, and sabbaticals so our priests will
be healthier and better prepared for ministry in these changing
circumstances. This office is also helping our priests in
parish work by assisting in the education and training of
lay ministers of the Eucharist to help at liturgy, and minister
to the sick in our parishes, and to work in the many hospitals
throughout the diocese. There are a number of men and women
who work in parishes as business managers to assist the pastor
in the administration of a parish thus freeing him for pastoral
and sacramental work. We also have a number of religious and
lay people who are helping parishes as pastoral associates
and ministering alongside priests in their work in parish
life.
Well underway also is a study to help us discern whether
there is a need for another class of permanent deacons. Presently
in the diocese there are some 23 permanent deacons. These
men were ordained in 1974 and work in a number of parishes
and institutions of the diocese.
Careful use of our human resources
Despite the growth of parish support ministries, we still
will have to be very careful in the way priests are assigned.
In 1975, 45 percent of our parishes were "one priest"
parishes. Today some 60 percent of our parishes are served
by one priest. In the last three years, some 26 parishes that
had parochial vicars no longer have them. We have several
parishes that used to have a resident pastor and today are
administered by a priest from a neighboring parish. This trend
will likely continue in the future. At the same time, in some
areas there is consistent growth and we will have to look
soon to the foundation of new parishes. To do this, we will
need priests.
The financial crisis
Another area of change in the diocese over recent years
is financial. The economic reality of Southwestern Pennsylvania
has affected not only families and workers, but parishes and
the diocese as well. All of us---on the parish as well as
the diocesan level---have attempted to provide all the services
today that we did twenty years ago, as well as develop a host
of new services to meet the present and changing needs. We
have done this, however, maintaining most of the institutions,
structures and programs that were designed for a far larger
and younger population of nearly a generation ago. This, along
with increased costs, the vocation problem, inflation, changing
population patterns, has led us to the present financial difficulty.
Generosity of the Faithful
Even in the face of declining personal income, the Catholic
faithful have continued to demonstrate their traditional generosity.
Parish share programs have increased the income of the central
administration---consistently and generously. Each year parishes
and the diocese see the fruits of such giving and we are profoundly
grateful. Without this loving and gracious sacrifice, little
could be accomplished. Yet our spending is greater than our
income.
Deficit
The diocese and some parishes operate at a deficit. Some
parishes cannot meet monthly operating expenses and do not
meet payments to the diocese for their property or employee
health insurance or their part of the parish share program.
The number of parishes indebted in this way is steadily increasing
as is the amount of money owed in repayment, while the diocesan
reserve vanishes as it covers these costs.
A similar process is repeated in the operation of our Catholic
schools. When a diocesan high school, for example, cannot
meet operating expenses, they turn for additional monies from
the diocese. In addition, many parishes have found it necessary
to defer payments to the diocese (an indirect subsidy) or
request direct subsidy to meet school expenses. This process
has taken us far beyond the normal abilities of the diocese
to assist the schools.
In the noble effort to offer the widest-possible range of
services and ministry to all who benefit from them without
an overall reorganization of the services, the diocese has
consistently operated at a deficit for the past ten years.
In this time we have exhausted the diocesan free reserve.
In 1985-86, the diocese ended the year with a deficit of
$1,258,000. In 1986-87, the deficit was $2,600,000. Last year
the deficit was $2,800,000. This cannot continue. You and
I cannot allow this to continue. The initial projected deficit
for this fiscal year was $3,800,000. We are now working to
reduce this.
How do we respond to these challenges? What is our reply
to the information we now have. What do we do? When do we
begin? To answer these questions I want to repeat something
I said at the very beginning of this letter. Whatever we do,
we do together.
We are at a stage where we all know something of the problem
and its dimensions. We also have some solutions available
to us---and the potential to develop solutions for the future.
My hope and plan is to involve as many as possible in the
decision-making process that leads us to the actions we must
take. The key to that process is consultation.
What is the next step?
We have the data. We need, together, to discuss how to meet
the challenge. Then we need to work to carry out our decisions.
The three steps are clear, simple and essential. We must:
1) evaluate the information; 2) agree on a course of action,
and 3) work together to carry out our decision.
As bishop, I have available to me and am grateful for the
competent advice of several consultative bodies that are of
great assistance. Since becoming bishop I have met monthly
with the Priest Council to share the concerns reflected in
this letter and to solicit advice. At the same time, this
Church is also well served by the Diocesan Finance Council
made up of religious women, laymen, laywomen and priests who
offer their counsel and expertise on a wide range of matters
touching the finances of this local Church.
The Diocesan Pastoral Council
With this letter, I am establishing an additional advisory
body, the Diocesan Pastoral Council, to reflect the widest
possible diocesan involvement in the consultation and decision-making
process. The Diocesan Pastoral Council will be made up primarily
of laywomen and laymen, together with a proportionate number
of priests and religious to reflect the richness and diversity
of this vibrant diocese. The idea of a pastoral council has
met with great acceptance and welcome and I hope the reality
will be as well received and as successful. In the near future
I intend to promulgate the bylaws for the council and announce
the method for determining its membership so that it can begin
to meet as early as this coming January.
Diocesan commissions
At the same time, and in order to involve as many laymen
and laywomen, priests and religious in the ongoing activity
of the central administration of the diocese, and in order
to benefit from their expertise and talents, I am establishing
a variety of diocesan-wide advisory commissions to address
specific areas of concern and involvement. The following commissions
are hereby established:
The Diocesan Justice and Peace Commission;
The Diocesan Worship Commission;
The Diocesan Commission to Counter Pornography;
The Diocesan Theological Commission; and
The Diocesan Ecumenical and Interfaith Commission.
The purpose of each of these commissions is to address specific
concerns in a spirit of consultation and collaboration in
a way that promotes understanding and a wider appreciation.
At the same time, each commission is to provide me with competent
advice, analysis of issues, and proposals for appropriate
action. As soon as possible, the process will begin to select
the membership of these commissions so that they can begin
to function before the end of this year.
Perhaps it should also be noted that these commissions are
structured in such a way that their staff support will come
from existing diocesan offices and will entail no increase
in the spending level of the diocesan administration.
Central Administration
This structural change also reflects the growing concern
for the size and expense of the diocesan central administration.
These offices are a result of the praiseworthy attempt to
respond to every human concern in just about every religious
related dimension. When we could afford this approach, it
was feasible. Now we must learn to live within our means.
None of us personally or ecclesially can expect to live beyond
our means indefinitely. We are not expected so to mortgage
our future to pay for our past and present expenses that we
empty the future of hope. We face the fact that we can only
spend what we have. We must balance each budget.
Parishes and the future
We have seen how over the last decade we have lost nearly
113,000 Catholics from our diocese. This is the equivalent
of 26 large parishes. Yet, we continue to staff nearly the
same amount of parishes that we did ten years ago. Some consolidations
are going to have to take place. We already have a fine working
model of how beneficial and well such an effort can be made
with beautiful and fruitful results.
Good Shepherd Parish in Braddock is celebrating its third
anniversary. I had the joy of joining this united parish community
for a Confirmation celebration that filled the church with
people committed to their new parish. Good Shepherd Parish
is a wonderful example of what can happen when people and
priests come together to assess realistically their ministerial,
financial and human resources. In this case all involved put
aside what might have been their own personal preferences
in order to promote the common good. The result is a healthy,
caring, worshipping, viable and active presence of the Church
in the Braddock community, together with a strong Catholic
elementary school. It is a testimony to the people of Braddock
and to their devoted parish priests who serve them now as
one faith family.
Parish study
Much more of this kind of collaboration is needed. Since
whatever we plan to do needs to be done in a coordinated and
comprehensive manner, I have already appointed a task force
to study and develop a diocesan-wide plan that can form the
basis for discussion with the various diocesan consultative
bodies and local parish councils. Examples of this plan in
action are the recent naming of five pastors to serve as administrators
in parishes where it was no longer possible to appoint a resident
pastor. This series of appointments was based on the assessment
of the needs, capabilities and realities of the local situation
and resulted in a reorganization without disruption of parish
ministry in each instance. The goodwill and mutual respect
of all involved has shown that the future of ministry in areas
where there is a concentration of smaller parishes and a shortage
of priests need not be bleak. Rather, we can, together, provide
for the future with hope, confidence and love.
Christ, the Divine Teacher
Christ is the Teacher of His people. A major part of His
saving mission was to free us from the despair of ignorance
and doubt, from the frightening fear that perhaps nothing
makes sense at all. "For this was I born, and for this
I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth"
(John 18.27).
Jesus was so concerned with truth because He is himself the
Truth, as He is the Way and the Life (cf. John 14.6). Much
of His public life was spent in teaching. The common title
He received was "Teacher". Jesus continues to teach
also through His Church. The teaching of the faith which is
a "witnessing" has a pattern different from that
of ordinary human teaching. The Word of God does not begin
with us. It is a gift from God. This gift must be passed on
to others.
Passing on the faith
Passing on the faith is an integral part of being a believer.
We share the gift with others. "You shall be my witnesses..."
(Acts 1.8). Experience teaches us that one of the time-proven
ways of communicating the Catholic faith to our children is
in and through our Catholic schools. Current scientific research
confirms that data and the intuition of the faithful. Catholic
schools are an important part of the effort of this diocesan
family. Furthermore, as Pope John Paul II noted during his
recent pastoral visit to our country, Catholic schools are
a "gift to the Church and a gift to the nation."
They are one of the largest and most fruitful gifts of the
Church to the wider community.
Our gift to our neighbors
The savings to taxpayers in the counties which make up the
diocese of Pittsburgh is approximately $200 million a year.
The taxes of the business communities in these areas are also
substantially reduced as a result of contributions of the
Catholic community to the education of children and youth
in the diocese.
The Catholic schools in our own diocese continue to provide
quality education. Students who attend our Catholic schools
continue to score significantly above average on standardized
testing. This data is consistent with the research findings
which show that graduates of Catholic secondary schools are
more likely to go to college and, once there, to complete
their course of studies.
In order for our diocese to continue this tradition of excellence,
it is essential that we operate our schools as efficiently
as possible. The total annual budget for our Catholic schools
in 1987-88, including diocesan and parish subsidies for elementary
and secondary schools, was approximately $60 million. Tuition
covers only 70% of the cost of education at the secondary
level and only 30% at the elementary level.
Planning for the future
Strategic planning is critical for both elementary and secondary
schools. Low enrollments make it impossible for many schools
to provide strong programs at a cost effective level. To meet
the enrollment and financial challenges which presently confront
our Catholic schools, reorganization is necessary.
We cannot allow the shift in population and living situations
to threaten the quality of our Catholic schools. We must reorganize
for excellence. Our goal is to maintain and extend the strong,
vibrant, value-oriented education program that has so nourished
Southwestern Pennsylvania. The process leading to consolidation
of some schools has already begun in several parts of the
diocese. Where this is already underway such as in the Millvale
area, Hilltop and in Lawrenceville, the process will continue.
Yet, we need to face this issue on a diocesan-wide basis and
we need to do it together.
School Consultation
October 28 and 29, there will be a diocesan-wide consultation
on the schools to discuss every aspect of our educational
effort through our schools. The consultation will include
representatives of the administration, faculty and student
body of the schools, together with representatives of the
parishes, pastors, teacher organizations, diocesan officials
and other concerned members of this diocese. This gathering
of representatives of all involved in the school effort will
provide us the process to begin to face an urgent matter very
close to the hearts of all of us. How do we best provide excellent
Catholic education in all of its forms in this diocese?
Catholic Charities -- Human Services
At the same time, we are reviewing our efforts to carry
on Christ's healing mission to all those in need. We are called,
not only to teach, but to do. Our challenge is to live the
Gospel message of compassion and care for others. "When
you did this to the least one of these, you did it to me"
was Jesus' counsel to us in the face of others' needs. (cf.
Matt. 25.40). We are called to be the Good Samaritan on the
banks of the three rivers.
Many expressions of the Church's mission to those in need
are found throughout the diocese. Catholic health care centers,
nursing homes, treatment centers, hospices, homes for the
elderly, institutes for the underprivileged, handicapped,
abused or deserted dot the landscape of our six counties.
On the diocesan level, the principal expressions of this
effort include the Diocesan Secretariat for Human Services
and the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Catholic
Charities is the primary diocesan agency responsible for sponsoring,
coordinating, integrating, and delivering charitable services
to the people throughout the six counties of our diocese who
have special and particular social needs which cannot be taken
care of at the parish level. While there are multiple services
and agencies in our wider community which respond to people's
social needs, Catholic Charities does so motivated by the
long-standing social teachings of the Church. Not only does
the work of Catholic Charities respond to the needs of people,
but it also serves to demonstrate the faith and commitment
which motivates what we do. The Secretariat for Human Services
directly oversees another whole series of human services.
All of these efforts are being reviewed to ensure our continued
and heightened awareness of the Church's fundamental option
for the poor.
Deficit Task Force
Recently, I formed a task force to address the deficit in
the light of the needs of the diocese, our diocesan programs,
and their costs. The task force evaluated our fiscal situation
and made suggestions in several areas including cost cuts
and revenue increases. These proposals were reviewed by the
consultative bodies of the diocese and are now in the hands
of various groups that form an overall implementation committee.
Diocesan Development Office
Together with the Deficit Task Force, I also established
a task force to study the current ways in which we in the
diocese raise funds to sustain our programs. After examining
the report of this task force and reviewing it with the various
diocesan consultative bodies, I am accepting its major recommendation
and am hereby establishing the Diocesan Development Office.
The purpose of this office is to coordinate throughout the
diocese the various fund-raising appeals that go on in the
name of the diocese, diocesan programs, parishes or parish
programs. At the same time, I am naming as head of this office
and coordinator of all fund-raising activity, Bishop John
B. McDowell.
Again, it should be noted that this new office will be staffed
by existing diocesan personnel and, hence, will not entail
an increase in expenditures on the part of the diocesan administration.
As this program of development grows, it could permit each
and any parish or diocesan program to solicit funds for its
own costs or endowments from the variety of funding agencies,
as well as from those who directly benefit from individual
programs or who wish to support in a special way such specific
efforts. Obviously such an effort will require great coordination
and considerable supervision. Each project will require explicit
written approval in advance from the appropriate diocesan
authority. I am immensely grateful to Bishop McDowell for
his willingness to accept still another diocesan-wide responsibility.
Stewardship of our resources
Another step in the direction of restoring fiscal balance
to the diocese is the reorganization and redefining of the
process by which the central administration approves parish
requests to renovate, build or expend funds in a manner that
requires permission. We need to be particularly attentive
that every step is taken to ensure that we are acting as wise
and prudent servants in our exercise of the stewardship entrusted
to us. As each parish is a part of the whole diocesan family,
so decisions involving large expenditures in any parish must
follow approved diocesan policy. Such procedures are requirements;
they are not matters of personal choice. Diocesan regulations
are the practical expression of membership in the wider diocesan
family. It is not responsive to our obligations to each other
to envision a parish or individual church program or institution
as an autonomous reality unrelated to and independent of our
wider ecclesial family.
Our diocesan family
Increasingly, we are all aware that the diocese is a family.
Each part of the diocese, whether it be a parish, a school,
a diocesan program, special ministry or a service agency is
part of a whole. The whole--taken together--is the diocesan
family. The numerous pastoral and apostolic activities carried
on in the parishes, are the primary and most vivid expression
of the Catholic Church of Pittsburgh. Everyone is called to
new awareness that we work together as a family--as a team.
Our new beginnings are rooted in the appreciation that we
must share in all our efforts. To limit one's vision of the
Church to any one program or parish is to allow our affection
for one member of the family to blind us to the claims on
us of our other brothers and sisters. There are some parishes
and programs which because of the needs of the area and the
lack of resources requires some special attention on the part
of the entire diocese.
Unity
These words I share with all who exercise ministry and serve
in the name of the Church in this diocese. Our capacity to
reflect the living unity of Christ's Church calls us to an
ever-increased awareness of our need to work together, to
share, and to be in continual and meaningful conversation.
Dialogue is the practical, outward sign of the more profound
unity that is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Discussion and
sharing information does not preclude personal and communal
initiative on the part of any one segment of the Church community,
rather it guards against such action becoming isolated or
misunderstood. Openness fosters harmony and the common good
of the whole local Church.
The role of the Bishop
As the bishop of this local Church and chief shepherd of
its many faithful laymen and laywomen, religious women and
men, its deacons and priests, I am profoundly aware of the
need of your prayers and help in carrying out the task given
me by Christ at the hands of His Vicar, Pope John Paul II.
As pastor of this faith family, I am mightily conscious that
great effort is needed to keep our vision trained not only
on our individual ministry but also on the mission of this
whole diocese as it works together.
The Second Vatican Council presents the hierarchy as a "diakonia",
a ministry of service. "Those ministers who are endowed
with sacred power are servants of their brethren, so that
all who are of the People of God, and therefore enjoy a true
Christian dignity, can work toward a common goal freely and
in an orderly way" (LG 8). This is not an easy task,
but with your help and God's grace I can provide that leadership
that confirms our unity.
A Moment of Joy
Our new beginnings as a local Church---a diocesan family--should
be for all of us a time of joy and hope. The joy is found
in the simple satisfaction that working, planning, sharing,
building and praying together brings. Such work will not be
without its sorrowful mysteries just as life also contains
its joyful ones. Yet the glory that awaits us with Christ
is determined by how well we take up His challenge: "If
anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9.24).
Signs of growth and life
Our new beginnings are a sign of growth and life. All real
development includes some growing pains, just as all true
discipleship includes the cross. But our growth is healthy.
It is necessary. It is good.
Some time ago I experienced the life of a family through
its many stages. This included the children growing up, marrying
and starting families of their own. One by one, they moved
from the house in which they had grown up and in which, as
children and young adults, they had felt so much love. They
moved to new homes, and new lives. Soon there was left at
home only the mother and father. Both had aged. Yet, both
tried very hard to keep up the old family home with all its
rooms and memories, with its yard and echoes of laughter.
Gradually it became too much. The parents realized that it
wasn't needed any more. All the reasons for the large house
had moved to their own homes and had settled their own families---had
built their own centers of new love.
It became necessary for that mother and father to move to
a smaller home, an apartment. Yet, there lingered some anxiety.
What would it mean to the family when they shifted from this
big, old, loved home to a new, smaller, efficiency apartment?
It only dawned on them when the moving was completed that
the reason they had either home was because of the love that
they shared with each other and with their children. The new
home became every bit a place of love as had been the old
home---perhaps even more so because now the older couple share
in the love of their children--each in their own home with
their own family. Love is like that. It grows. It is not limited
to any set of four walls.
Our diocesan family changes
Our diocesan family is a lot like that family. We are going
to be doing some moving, making some changes. But we will
do that so that the faith and love that was nurtured in one
set of walls can and will be shared with our children--the
next generation. We will make some changes so that the love
and faith that is our Catholic Church--the beginnings of God's
kingdom with us--will be shared and grow and live.
Just as you and I shared that love and faith in one set of
circumstances, the next generation--with us--will benefit
from all the new circumstances that are this diocese as it
grows, reorganizes and moves into the future. All this, too,
is a part of our new beginnings.
We can face the future with great confidence. Christ will
not abandon us, any more than He was absent from the lives
of our parents, grandparents and those who founded this diocese.
Jesus assured us: "I will not leave you orphans"
(John 14.18). If we keep faith, if we work together, if we
trust in God's provident plan for us and the unfolding of
God's kingdom in our midst, then we have every reason to face
the future with confidence and joy.
Spiritual Renewal
Our new beginnings is not just concerned with moving things.
God's kingdom comes about because hearts are moved. This must
be our primary concern. Conversion, the daily turning to God
in humility, trust and love, is the foundation and goal of
all our efforts. The Son of God became one of us so that we
might share in the life of God. This is the great mystery
of God's love. The Second Vatican Council again repeats what
the Church has proclaimed for two millennia. "What has
revealed the love of God among us is that the only-begotten
Son of God has been sent by the Father into the world so that,
being made man, the Son might by His redemption of the entire
human race give new life to it and unify it" (UR 2).
Daily, the Church prays in the Eucharistic Liturgy that we
may "come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled
himself to share in our humanity".
The call to holiness
Conscious of the call to holiness that forms us as a people
of God, we need first to turn our attention to the ongoing
spiritual renewal to which the Second Vatican Council challenges
us and of which our daily Eucharistic Liturgy speaks. The
task is to renew our living faith commitment in keeping with
the teaching of Christ's Church. Surely this is a part of
everything each of us does. Yet it should not be surprising
that in a diocese this size, there is some unevenness in the
renewal efforts over the past twenty years. We need, together
as a diocesan family, to focus on this task. Over the next
few months there will be a committee appointed to study possible
programs of renewal, to review suggestions for renewal, and
prepare recommendations for renewal so that we can, together,
continue in a more orderly way this urgent and essential matter.
We have entered an era of new beginnings. As we approach
the year 2000, we are presented with a unique opportunity
to foster the renewal of the Catholic Church at Pittsburgh.
We can all be justly proud of our Church's long history and
the magnificent heritage of faith and love. We are clearly
grateful to all those who have walked before us--bishops,
priests, deacons, religious and laity--who, through their
personal commitment, have provided us with a strong foundation
on which to build.
Cooperation with God and among ourselves
In this present moment of new beginnings, we are reminded
that the work of the Church is always the result of cooperation
between God and us. We believe that the Church is holy. It
is an essential part of God's plan for salvation. It is established
by Jesus; it is guided to the fullness of truth and life by
the Holy Spirit. At the same time, we reflect that the Church
is also human. As its members we are the "earthen vessels"
who carry a great treasure. All of our efforts will reflect
our own human frailty and imperfection. This must not so overwhelm
us to render us fearful or cause us to lose faith that we
can accomplish a great deal of good for ourselves and the
future.
I am very happy that we are undertaking this journey together.
I am glad that you and I are facing New Beginnings, a new
direction into the future together. We have much for which
we are grateful. We are thankful for what we have received.
We appreciate the opportunity we now face, to walk together
into the future with all of the faith and all of the love
that is this Church. We are a people molded in the faith,
filled with God's Spirit. Our hearts should always be moved
by a spirit of hope, confidence and prayer. As I conclude
this letter, I ask you to join me in the prayer for our NEW
BEGINNINGS.
Gracious God.
You have blessed your people
With every good gift.
We ask you now, Lord.
To continue to show your love
To the church
Of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.
Lead your people
Into the future
With hearts filled with
Faith, confidence and joy.
May we build on
The faith of our ancestors.
So that we in turn
May pass on the Gospel
Of Jesus Christ
To future generations.
We ask this
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
May God grant you health, blessings and peace.
Donald W. Wuerl
Bishop of Pittsburgh
September 28, 1988
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