Bishop Earl Fernandes provided an update on the state of the diocese while addressing the Catholic Men’s Luncheon Club on Friday, Nov. 7 at Columbus St. Patrick Church.
In a talk and follow-up question-and-answer session that lasted nearly an hour, the bishop shared positive news about the growth of the diocese in what he has identified as its four priorities: vocations, evangelization, Catholic education and social outreach.
He began by expressing thanks that The Appeal, the diocese’s major source for funding its programs, is continuing at a record pace and noting that he’s appreciative the diocese was able to reduce the number of parish closings over the past three years from the 32 recommended through the Real Presence Real Future initiative to 16 due to the availability of missionary priests to serve in ministry here.
The shortage of priests must be addressed through attracting young men to the priesthood, and Bishop Fernandes said a push to increase vocations has resulted in 43 seminarians this year, up from 17 just three years ago, and that expects as many as 50 to be in formation next year.
The bishop attributed the growth in vocations to various programs the diocese has put in place. Among them are Andrew Dinners held throughout the year in various parts of the diocese where the bishop joins young men with interest in the priesthood for a meal and fellowship; live-in weekends at the Pontifical College Josephinum; Melchizedek Project meetings that include talks about vocations; and outreach at the St. Thomas More Newman Center that serves the Ohio State University campus.
More seminarians have presented the diocese with a good problem to have: the need for additional monetary support for vocations. The cost per year to the diocese to educate young men studying for the priesthood has more than doubled from $935,000 three years ago to $2.4 million this year, the bishop revealed.
Additionally, the diocese has ramped up efforts to encourage young women to consider religious life. A Marian Evening was held earlier this month at the Newman Center, where more than 30 sisters interacted with young women discerning a consecrated vocation.
“More and more women are considering consecrated life because we have religious again in our schools and in our parishes,” the bishop said.
Bishop Fernandes emphasized that evangelization and catechesis initiatives have been revamped to incorporate religious education for parents as well as their children. The bishop noted that a prime opportunity for young people and families to immerse themselves in the faith will be at their doorstep on Jan. 1-5 when the annual SEEK Conference sponsored by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) takes place at the Columbus Convention Center.
At the Newman Center in Columbus, evangelization efforts have led to growth in the number of students at Ohio State receiving instruction to enter the Church, attending Mass and participating in Bible studies. This year, there are potentially up to 70 young men and women who will be receiving the sacraments, the bishop said.
Another opportunity to evangelize has emerged with the influx of newcomers in all parts of the diocese, many of whom come from a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds and speak different languages.
The bishop said that with diversity on the rise and the number of Catholics in central Ohio doubling over the past few years to more than 500,000, the diocese needs to provide support and resources to new communities.
In recent years, the number of Masses for ethnic communities in their native languages has grown dramatically, with many of those in Spanish around the diocese. There are now 17 sites in the diocese with multiple Sunday Masses in Spanish, some of those at churches previously targeted for closing.
“This is the face of the Church in the Diocese of Columbus,” the bishop said.
The bishop highlighted the growth of Catholic education, telling the men at the luncheon that the diocese’s 11 high schools and 39 elementary schools are at 90 percent capacity. Schools on the west side of Columbus, he pointed out, have large numbers of Latino students. In addition, new schools are in the works, including one at Columbus St. Peter Powell St. Joan of Arc Parish.
Each high school in the diocese now has a priest in service to the students and staff, and religious sisters also are working in education at several schools.
“We’ve revised the religious course of study and we’ve incorporated Theology of the Body so that our Catholic schools are authentically Catholic,” said Bishop Fernandes, who recently returned from Rome after leading a group of administrators on a pilgrimage for the Jubilee for Education.
“I’m not interested in funding Catholic schools as private schools with religion,” he continued. “Catholic schools are an extension of the diocese, an extension of the Church’s ministry, an extension of the life of the parish, and they exist for the same reason that the Church exists – to evangelize.”
The Church’s social outreach has expanded through Catholic Social Services (CSS) under the direction of CEO and president Kelley Henderson with the creation of new programs and the growth of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Center on Columbus’ west side to more than triple its former size.
CSS provides assistance for the elderly, children and mothers as well as material resources and job training programs. The bishop disclosed that Newark St. Francis de Sales Church and CSS are working together to repurpose the former Heath St. Leonard Church as an outreach center.
Meanwhile, the diocese continues to work in partnership with the Joint Organization for Inner-city Needs (JOIN), Bishop Griffin Resource Center, St. Stephen Community House and St. Vincent Family Center in Columbus and the St. Francis Evangelization Center in McArthur.
“There’s a lot of evangelical work going on through Catholic Social Services,” the bishop said.
Speaking directly to the men at the luncheon, Bishop Fernandes emphasized the need for strong fathers to lead their families in faith. High divorce rates and lack of catechesis over the past 50 years have resulted in the breakdown of families, he said, causing many young people to abandon the faith.
Bishop Fernandes stressed the need for lifelong Catholic education, the importance of prayer and interior life, developing a personal relationship with Jesus and striving for holiness. Studies indicate that in families where the father attends Mass the children in the home are more likely to continue to practice the faith.
“Men have to nurture their faith and sanctify their wives as well as allow themselves to be sanctified by their spouses,” the bishop said. “They need to set the tone for the family and practice the faith so that the faith can be translated through the family.”