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APPEAL PLEDGES GO BEYOND EXPECTATIONS
With more than $9.8 million pledged by parishioners through Aug. 16, the 2005 Annual Catholic Appeal of the Diocese of Brooklyn “has surpassed all expectations,” Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio said this week.
In his column, “Put Out Into the Deep,” in this issue of The Tablet, the Bishop noted that 83 percent of the 216 parishes in Brooklyn and Queens had gone over their goals. As a result, they will receive all over goal amounts for local parish needs.
“If all pledges to the appeal are redeemed,” Bishop DiMarzio wrote, “over $3.3 million will be returned to the parishes to improve the lives of the nearly 1.8 million Catholics who are said to be living within our Diocese.”
When the Diocese launched the appeal at the beginning of Lent, $8 million was set as the goal, an increase of $3.5 million over the amount sought in the 2004 drive. Though the elevated goal was a considerable one-year jump, nearly 44,000 parishioners reacted favorably, deeming those earmarked for support---seminarians, persons with developmental disabilities, poor parishes, Catholic elementary school-age youngsters from families struggling financially, among them---worthy and important beneficiaries of the funds.
“Our parishioners responded more effectively this year,” said Father Witold Mroziewski, pastor of Our Lady of Czestochowa-St. Casimir, Park Slope. Noting that in the past “we didn’t do too well,” he said this time “we had a good campaign.”
The current pledge total of $25,650 is about $14,000 higher than last year, or more than double. With 91 percent of the pledges redeemed, the parish stands to receive more than $6,000 in over-goal donations.
Father Mroziewski cited the appeal video, narrated by Fox 5 anchor Rosanna Scotto, and meetings with parishioners as positive factors in explaining the diocesan needs, especially the promotion of vocations. And invariably at the end of the five weekend Masses---two in English and three in Polish---he has thanked the donors from the pulpit, he said.
For Msgr. Perfecto Vazquez, the in-pew solicitations made on two Sundays in April are the key to success at Guardian Angel parish in Sheepshead Bay, where he is the pastor.
“The in-pew is the best for us,” he said. “That’s how we get our pledges. If we depended only on the mail solicitations, it would be impossible for us to reach our goal.”
Given a goal of $12,326, the parish of 250 registered families, almost half Hispanic, has pledged more than $39,000; the amount redeemed has risen to close to $27,000.
Frequent pulpit announcements have reminded donors to continue to honor their pledges, Msgr. Vazquez said. “I trust the people, they trust me, and they respond.”
Father Vito A. Buonanno, the pastor of Ascension parish in Elmhurst, heaped praise on his stewardship committee and finance committee members for helping him guide parishioners to make a strong response to the appeal. An important factor was updating the donor list. “Our committee people were wonderful,” he said.
The product of their efforts was a pledge total of $58,240, though the goal was $15,909. The amount redeemed is approaching $37,000.
Encouragement from the pulpit, the in-pew solicitations, bulletin announcements and the showing of the video combined to attract support from parishioners, Father Buonanno said.
That everything over goal comes back to the parish also made a difference, he said. “It helped sell the appeal.”
What made a big difference in generating enthusiasm at St. Bernard’s parish in Mill Basin was a parish reception, which drew about 150 parishioners, said Father Ralph J. Caputo, the pastor. “It was a huge success.”
The results to date show that while the goal was $38,554, parishioners have pledged $85,553. “If all the pledges are redeemed, the parish will get forty-six thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine dollars, but who’s counting?” he said with a laugh.
Father Caputo, the pastor there for four years, knows that the new resources are important to St. Bernard’s. He said the over-goal moneys will go toward a school endowment, parish reserves and parish operating costs.
Parishioners also responded to the pastor’s personal appeal, he thought. Explaining that the Bishop had asked the priests for their financial support, he said he would increase his pledge to $500. “I told them that I understood some could not pledge that amount, but if they could, I asked them to join me in what I called ‘The Pastor’s Club.’ Many did.”
The pledge amount is in sharp contrast to the response last year when St. Bernard’s barely made its goal of $26,000.
In his column in The Tablet, Bishop DiMarzio said the Annual Catholic Appeal “provides the means to serve the spiritual, physical and educational well-being of our entire Church family. In short, it is all about people giving to people.”
The theme he chose for the appeal is: “Building God’s Kingdom Through Generous Hearts---Together We Serve the Lord and One Another.”
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