“While we have signs that our economy is improving, many in our community continue to face difficult challenges,” Archbishop Allen Vigneron states in a video message introducing the 2011 CSA. “But our Lord in his divine mercy assures us that we do not struggle alone. He sustains us through faith, so we can work together and support one another in holiness.”
Activities funded by the CSA include those that give resources to Catholic schools and parish religious education programs; youth and young adult ministry; vocations and training for priests; marriage preparatory classes; services for the sick, suffering and those with disabilities; and several others.
Thomas Scholler, director of the archdiocesan Office of Planned Giving, says the most important thing to know about CSA is that it helps funds the things that really hit home for Catholics.
For example, he says, parishes routinely bring in new members through the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults — a program present at every parish that is funded by the CSA. Priests and lay ministers who lead a parish, also, often are trained using CSA funds.
“There are all of those things that are supported by the CSA that a parish wouldn’t be able to fund individually,” he says.
The appeal also funds more specific types of outreach, such as a televised Mass for shut-ins — broadcast each Sunday morning at 6 a.m. on Fox — for Catholics who can’t leave their homes.
Scholler says, at its core, the CSA “provides a chance for people in the archdiocese to share together to support” such shared ministries. That, in turn, helps the Church in its ability to reach out with its Christian mission of evangelization, he adds.
“Christian stewardship and evangelization are so close,” he says. “Stewardship is recognizing that everything we are and have is a gift from God — and when we give our time, talent and financial resources, we’re giving back to God everything He’s given to us.
“CSA is one example of how to do that.”
Accordingly, the theme of this year’s appeal remains unchanged from last year: “Sharing Christ in and through the Church.”
In his message, Archbishop Vigneron tells potential supporters that their donation doesn’t just fund programs, but also “advances the evangelizing mission Christ gives his Church to share the good news with everyone.”
Despite a struggling local economy, the CSA has met with success in recent years. As of April 1, the 2010 CSA brought in just shy of $21 million, with $1.2 million more pledged but not yet collected. The 2009 CSA similarly brought in upwards of $21 million.
CSA also gives parishes an opportunity to raise extra funds. Each parish has a CSA goal to reach. And while normal collections are subject to a 7 percent assessment from the archdiocese — called a cathedraticum, which is commonplace practice for U.S. dioceses — any funds a parish collects for CSA above that parish’s goal is returned assessment-free to the parish.
The proceeds from the cathedraticum go primarily to covering the basic administrative expenses of the archdiocese, whereas the CSA funds most ministries.
Whatever the driving force behind the CSA’s recent success, Scholler says the generosity of local Catholics has been impressive.
“You look at the lousy economy every year,” he says. “Yet, every year, people give over $20 million to this — that’s pretty amazing.”
