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	Diocese Launches $22 Million Capital Campaign By Deirdre Cox Baker Quad-City Times January 15, 2009 http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2009/01/15/news/local/doc49700b7981c49158781732.txt?sPos=2 The Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport announced Thursday it will undertake a $22 million capital campaign beginning in January 2010. The campaign comes on the heels of the finalization of the diocese’s bankruptcy, which included a $37 million settlement with victims of clergy sex abuse. “If these funds are raised, it will give us a firm foundation for our future and will strengthen our diocese,” said Sister Laura Goedken, director of development for the diocese. Because of the state of the economy, the diocese will use 2009 to organize the effort and to solicit major donors. Most Catholics in the area will not be approached until a year from now. “This will provide some rebound time,” said Goedken, a sister in the Dominican order. The diocese has partnered with Community Counseling Services of Chicago to help with training and research, and to “clarify our thinking,” she said. A native of Monticello, Iowa, Goedken was hired by the diocese in October. She has headed development efforts in other locations, including Monterey, Calif. “This is something the diocese needs, and I think people will help,” said Don Frericks, the parish life administrator at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Blue Grass, Iowa. Community Counseling Services conducted a feasibility study that showed the people of the diocese would support the $22 million goal. That involved interviews with 235 individuals, including lay people as well as clergy. “We have a lot of people who love our church, and these donors give from their hearts,” Goedken said. The Davenport diocese filed for bankruptcy in October 2006 after it lost its first civil sex abuse trial. The diocese, its insurance company, Travelers, and the creditors committee agreed to a $37 million settlement, with the stipulation that all Catholic entities in the diocese will be released from liability just as the diocese is. No money from the capital campaign will go toward the settlement, which has already been paid by the diocese and its insurance company. Sex abuse cases have cost the diocese and its insurer at least $47 million. That number includes the bankruptcy settlement and $10 million paid to 45 victims before the diocese filed for bankruptcy. Other dioceses in the United States have been in similar straits, and Davenport hopes to mirror the experience of Tucson, Ariz. Tucson just finished a capital campaign that had an original goal of $28 million. Some $42 million was raised, Goedken said. The church cannot do much about current economic conditions, Frericks pointed out. “That just may impact how long it takes to raise the funds,” he said. Frericks said he has been expecting to see a downturn in contributions because of the poor economy, but it has not happened yet. The $22 million campaign will be rolled out slowly, going to three or four “pilot” parishes next fall and then, eventually, to all 81 parishes in the diocese. The pilot parishes have not yet been chosen, but some of the largest are in Bettendorf and Davenport. Goedken believes Catholics have mostly moved past the pain of the clergy sex abuse scandal. “Our church is about repentance and forgiveness,” she said, noting that the capital campaign will also be a time for educating Catholics about the church’s true mission. Deirdre Cox Baker can be contacted at (563) 383-2492 or dbaker@qctimes.com.
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