Diocese's Catholics lift annual Bishop's Appeal

At a time when several states are facing budget crunches, when other charities are experiencing serious declines in donations and when many dioceses have made severe cuts because of drops in giving, Catholics in the Albany Diocese have increased their donations to the annual Bishop's Appeal.

The 2003 Bishop's Appeal announced this week that $6,458,657 has been pledged by Catholics in the 14-county Diocese. That represents a rise of nearly $30,000 from last year's total of $6,428,897. Both sums represent a seven-percent increase over the 2001 total.

A tally of the giving, on a parish-by-parish basis, appears on page 5.

"The total is a remarkable display of support by the people of the Diocese," said Bishop Howard J. Hubbard. "They evidently realized that the needs of the poor, children, the elderly and others do not lessen but often increase during times of economic difficulty."

The Bishop's Appeal, which is held each spring, supports Catholic schools, religious education classes, training for seminarians and lay ministers, and a host of programs under the umbrella of Catholic Charities, including aid for the elderly, homeless shelters, outreach to the poor and disabled, homes for unwed mothers, and assistance to those with HIV/AIDS.

"Anyone who has paid attention to the downturn in the economy and its effect on both state governments and private charities throughout the U.S. knows how heartening the Bishop's Appeal total is," said John Manning, director of the diocesan Stewardship Office, which oversees the campaign. "For example, I recently read that gifts to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., had fallen by more than 50 percent over the last year or so."

Lawrence M. Small, secretary of the Smithsonian, told The Washington Post last week that "it's no secret that fund-raising for non-profits is challenging" because of the current economy. The American Association of Fundraising Council Trust for Philanthropy recently announced that giving to human-service organizations fell more than 11 percent in 2002.

In addition to the sluggish economy, another pressure on Catholic fund-raising is the after-effects of the clergy abuse scandal. Many dioceses have experienced shortfalls in their annual campaigns because donors have withheld gifts as a sign of anger or in protest.

"Catholics in the Albany Diocese seem to have taken another approach in reacting to the scandal," said Rev. Kenneth J. Doyle, chancellor for communications for the Diocese. "First, they know their Bishop and what he has accomplished over the past 26 years. Second, they recognize how much the Diocese has done in the past 12 months to overcome the crisis: Bishop Hubbard's apologies, the immediate implementation of the U.S. bishop's 'Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,' the hiring of a counselor to help victims and of an investigator to look into allegations, and the training of thousands of staff people and volunteers to prevent abuse.

"Second, Catholics realized that they didn't want to victimize other people: senior citizens who need low-cost housing and health care, people with developmental disabilities who need specialized care, children who need to be educated about their faith, poor people who need help in feeding their kids and finding jobs, and so on.

"When the people of the Albany Diocese weighed all of that, they came down on the side of helping, rather than hurting, the needy."

Bishop Hubbard called that outcome "heartening, inspiring and praiseworthy. I have said throughout my 26 years as bishop, that the people of this Diocese are devoted to their faith, and one way they express that devotion is through their generosity. They have proved it again, and I am immensely grateful to them.

"In a time of economic pressure, they dug deeper into their pockets. In a time of scandal in the Church, they showed how strong their faith is. They should be very proud of their achievement. It is outstanding."

(7/17/03) [[In-content Ad]]