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| Priests and lay leaders attend one of the regional meetings — this one held at St. Mary Church in Platteville — for the final phase of the Priests for Our Future: The Church Is Alive! campaign. (Contributed photo) |
More than 500 pastors and lay leadership came together in the past two weeks to celebrate the start of the last phase of the Priests for Our Future: The Church Is Alive! campaign.
Six events were held in parishes spanning the geographic area of the Diocese of Madison to welcome and inform volunteers who will pioneer the final efforts of the campaign.
Along with themed balloons and a strong sense of spirit, the events involved various speakers. They included the Vicar General Msgr. James Bartylla; the Executive Director of the Catholic Diocese of Madison Foundation Inc., Daun Maier; and seasoned pastors and volunteers who completed the campaign in their local parishes.
The campaign seeks to establish a minimum $30 million endowment fund to provide the $1.5 million needed to meet the annual costs of recruiting and educating seminarians. The positivity was palpable in each parish hall as they announced that the campaign has received $29.3 million in pledges to date.
While the diocese expressed its extreme gratitude for this tremendous response, it also made it clear there is still work to be done. The $29.3 million raised to date includes the potential for nearly $4.8 million in rebates to parishes. Also factored in are the cost of campaign expenses and the reality that not all pledges will be fulfilled.
Monsignor Bartylla concluded each event with encouraging words and continues to echo the sentiment whenever speaking about the campaign.
“Drawing on the success of Wave I, I’m confident our Wave II parishes will have equal success as we provide for the future seminarian education and formation in the Diocese of Madison. Thank you to all of the faithful of our parishes for their hard work, sacrifice, and generosity during the Priests for Our Future campaign. We’re truly blessed,” he said.