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| Diocese Fund Garners $6M By Stephanie Innes Arizona Daily Star Febriary 4, 2008 http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/223504 The population of Catholics in the Tucson diocese is expected to top a half-million in the next decade, and church officials are preparing with plans to build nine new parishes and five schools, and raise $28 million from parishioners. About $7 million of the money will go into a trust for buying land to build the new churches and schools. Despite the bleak economy, Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas says he's confident the diocese can raise $28 million or more by October. It's the first time the diocese, established in 1897, has had a capital campaign. The goal is a lot of money for a diocese that has never raised more than $4 million in its Annual Catholic Appeal. But the capital campaign is already off to a solid start. Titled "Our Faith, Our Hope, Our Future Inc.," that campaign has been buoyed by $6 million in pledges from 23 individuals and couples ！ a pleasant surprise to diocese officials, who had anticipated $3 million in large gifts. The campaign is separately registered as a non-profit corporation and has a board of directors co-chaired by Tucson auto dealer Jim Click and Kicanas. The board would not disclose donors' names.
A pilot project with four parishes provided another $3.9 million ！ Our Lady of the Valley in Green Valley, St. Ambrose in Tucson's Midtown, St. Frances Cabrini on Tucson's North Side and St. Rose of Lima in Safford. Monsignor Robert D. Fuller of St. Frances Cabrini said he was initially skeptical of the amounts requested by the diocese, which is headquartered in Downtown Tucson. "Our parish's goal was a half- million. . . . We are a small parish of 900 households, and I thought that amount was absolutely ridiculous," Fuller said. "I decided there were some people Downtown who were a little crazy. I was not very full of faith." Fuller's parish typically pledges about $85,000 in the Annual Catholic Appeal and $400,000 annually in plate collections. Without much urging ！ Fuller said he rarely talks about money ！ parishioners pledged $1.1 million to the campaign, more than twice its goal. "I still find it difficult to believe, but it's true," Fuller said. "Just from what I heard, helping to fund the priests' retirement was one of the more popular projects." About 31 percent of the parishioners in the four churches pledged. The average gift was $3,500 ！ 15 times more than the average gift of $230 Catholics gave in last year's appeal. Worshippers have five years to pay their pledge. There will be no Annual Catholic Appeal this year. Part of the capital campaign will go toward funding the 26 ministries and charities the appeal normally funds. "There is no perfect time for a campaign," Bishop Kicanas said. "Whenever you begin renewal there are economic challenges. The best time for a campaign is when you are prepared, and I think we are well- prepared. . . . This is the time to work on strengthening the diocese." Parishioners at 26 churches, including 12 in Tucson, will begin hearing diocese requests for donations this month. Publicity for the remainder of the diocese will occur between August and October. The diocese includes about 350,000 Catholics and stretches across nine counties, including Yuma and Pinal. About 250,000 Catholics are expected to move into the diocese in the next decade, said diocese real estate specialist David Miller. The biggest concentration of new Catholics is anticipated to be in Pinal County, he said. The nine new parishes are expected to be built within the next 10 years ！ unprecedented growth for the diocese, Kicanas said. Although some of the campaign fund is slated to pay for the land, the fund does not include building costs. The nine new churches will bring the total number of parishes in the diocese to 84. Other projects the campaign will fund include increased benefits for retired priests, currently $1,200 per month. "For the old retired priests to have nothing when they retire is kind of a sad situation. We owe them something," said John Cieslinski, 68, a retiree who attends Santa Catalina Parish in Catalina. Cieslinski said he hadn't heard of the campaign but he'd definitely contribute. "We do need more Catholic schools. I'm a firm believer in a Catholic education. I'm a product of Catholic schools in the Midwest, and I wouldn't trade my education for anything." As she left noon Mass at Downtown's St. Augustine Cathedral Friday, longtime parishioner and retired teacher Jean Wade said she hadn't heard of the campaign. She gave $50 to the appeal last year. Wade said she will give whatever she's able to the capital campaign. "I really believe it is a true church. I've been a Catholic all my life, I've been going to this church since high school, and I'd give more if I could," she said. Kicanas said he was inspired by the individuals and couples he approached to give larger gifts, recalling one couple that, after some prayer, pledged $250,000 over five years. "Tremendous work went into building all these parishes and agencies, and now we have to get to the future, pass on the faith," the bishop said. The diocese worked with consultants from New York-based Community Counselling Services to organize the campaign. The company has worked with other Catholic dioceses and charges 8 cents for every dollar up to the goal, which works out to $2.2 million for Tucson. The diocese is looking to buy land not long after selling off 83 pieces of property. That land was sold in 2005 at the height of the real estate boom to finance a settlement pool for victims of sexual abuse by diocese clerics. The $22 million settlement pool was part of the diocese's bankruptcy reorganization, and selling the properties raised $5.28 million. Kicanas has said the diocese was fortunate to sell that property when it could get maximum prices, and the diocese did not have a lot of property even before the sale. It had lost several parcels of real estate as a result of debts that soared in the late 1980s, following the diocese's failed venture with running a television station. The diocese filed for bankruptcy reorganization in 2004 in the face of potentially expensive lawsuits over sexual abuse by clergy. Some parishioners have remained distrustful of the church since the scandal, which rocked Catholics nationwide. "The church is dysfunctional, in my opinion, unwilling to reform and, therefore, unworthy of financial support at a time and place where there are so many worthy causes competing for support," said Dr. Terence Carden, 69, a retired physician who attends St. Pius X on the East Side. "I refuse to continue to be an enabler of a monarchical system that has no basis in Scripture." Local church officials remain optimistic about the faithful. Kicanas said that, at this point in the campaign, the diocese has already raised double what it had anticipated. "I'm excited about the response of our people and their willingness to make significant sacrificial gifts," he said. "Our hope is that the same participation will continue." Though it is not embarking on a capital campaign, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix reports that one week into its annual appeal, $4 million has been pledged. The goal is $10.5 million. "Phoenix and Tucson are both very energized Catholic populations," said Diocese of Phoenix spokesman Jim Dwyer. "People from the Midwest and East Coast are all moving out here, and they are really committed to the Catholic Church." New schools Locations for five planned Catholic elementary schools in the diocese:
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