Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
November 28, 2001
Church donors thanked, examine future needs
Over 250 attend Catholic Foundation's `Dinner with Friends'
By Alwen Bledsoe
Many have dubbed the days after the Sept. 11 attacks "these uncertain times," and, said speakers at the Catholic Foundation's "Dinner with Friends," the Church in Colorado has not escaped.
The Nov. 16 donors' appreciation dinner celebrated the accomplishments of the local Church while highlighting the needs that growth in the midst of a challenging economy have brought.
Before the dinner, guests packed Christ the King Chapel at the John Paul II Center for a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. The Mass fell on the feast day for St. Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Scotland, appropriate, said the archbishop, because she too lived in a tumultuous time.
"She lived in a time of turmoil and confusion, a time when people were violent with one another," he said.
Having been exiled twice, she knew homelessness, and having experienced the death of close family members she knew grief, he continued. Nonetheless, he said, she lived a saintly life.
"She led her husband and children into holiness with her good example and she was extraordinarily generous with the poor," he said.
Archbishop Chaput went on to preach repentance and conversion.
"Sept. 11 was a time when all of us were shaken to the foundation of our lives," he said, later adding, "We should take advantage of that for our conversion."
Life, said the archbishop, does not simply consist of "eating, drinking, and partying," but is to be led in the service of family, love for spouses, care for children, and love for the world.
At the dinner, John Saeman, chairman of the Catholic Foundation, addressed the more than 250 people. He explained that the Catholic Foundation was established in 1998 to provide ongoing financial support for programs in the archdiocese including Catholic education, seminary formation, social concerns, religious education, priestly retirement and parish needs.
"None of us needs to be reminded that we live in uncertain times," said Saeman. "We all feel the obligation to do what we can to secure for the next generation a future in which their hopes and dreams can be realized."
To sympathetic laughter he added, "If you're like me, recent times have shown us that our financial investments don't always turn out the way we planned." But, he added, "God will never be outdone in generosity."
Saeman highlighted the Our Lady of New Advent Theological Institute, the Biblical and Catechetical Schools, a new Catholic school in Greeley, and new "state-of-the-art" buildings for Holy Family and Bishop Machebeuf High Schools as some of the Catholic Foundation's successes in the last few years.
The conversation turned more serious with a video presentation and the archbishop's discussion of some of the financial challenges facing the archdiocese.
Narrated by Deacon John Neal, director of seminary development and grants/corporate funding, the video presented three key areas that have been identified as financial priorities for the next three to five years: Catholic schools, religious education and evangelization, including youth ministry, and seminary formation.
It predicted 8,000 to 10,000 new Catholic students in the next decade and noted that many parishes have underdeveloped youth ministry programs due to lack of training and a high turnover rate. It also discussed the extraordinary growth of the archdiocesan seminaries in the last three years — the number of men in formation doubling in that time.
The archbishop said that the seminaries are quickly running out of dorm rooms and are in need of additional funding to help pay for those who cannot afford tuition and to bridge the gap between tuition fees and the actual cost to educate and house seminarians. He also discussed the need to pay a "just wage" to Catholic school teachers, a continual difficulty especially for schools in low-income areas, he said. But those financial needs are still absolute necessities, he said.
"I don't have a choice," he said. "I need $30 million to accomplish these goals in the next three to five years and I'm going to get it. If I don't get it here, I'm going to rob a bank," he joked.
Archbishop Chaput concluded the evening with a question and answer session.
Nancy Walla, executive director of the Catholic Foundation, said the dinner was both an appreciation dinner and a way to let donors know of the continued needs of the archdiocese.
The Catholic Foundation, she said, is one of the best ways donors can financially help the archdiocese.
"Contributing to the Catholic Foundation enables us to accumulate and invest funds in a way that helps us to maximize the benefit of the gifts," she said.
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