“The Annual Appeal makes things possible,” said Laura LaClair, associate director for campus ministry in the diocesan Office for Evangelization.
LaClair, specifically, spoke in reference to the Catholic Campus Ministry programs she helps to manage – the Annual Appeal contributes to the funds of every Catholic campus ministry in the diocese.
In many cases, that means discounted tickets to the annual Summit student retreat or to popular fall retreats; in the case of Roanoke College, it meant a new monstrance for adoration at the campus chapel instituted last year.
But in speaking to priests, campus ministers, and employees across the diocese, “The Annual Appeal makes things possible” was a constant refrain.
Use of the funds is split into three broad categories: 22% for “Empowering the next generation,” including seminarian education and campus ministries; 33% for “Providing for those in need,” including living expenses for retired priests and pastoral charity work; and 35% for “Strengthening Catholic communities,” including support for parishes, international priests, and specific ministries.
The fundraising target for 2024 is set at $4,169,230. A sum of $420,000, approximately 10% of the target, is earmarked for administration of the appeal effort.
‘Feeding our diocesan Church’
At the heart of our faith is the Eucharist. The Eucharist must be consecrated by an ordained priest. And an ordained priest must graduate from seminary.
Ordained June 1, Father David Arellano, parochial vicar of Blessed Sacrament, Harrisonburg, said that the Annual Appeal makes seminary attendance possible. The appeal pays for a majority of university tuition at the first level; at the next level, as seminarians study theology at major seminaries, tuition and room and board are fully covered.
“Our job is to discern and study,” said Father Arellano. “It allows us to focus on the studies, not how we’re going to pay for it.”
“Overall, not having that financial burden … freed me to really discern my vocation,” Father Arellano continued.
For those at the university level who are not discerning religious life, the Annual Appeal makes their formation and faith life easier, too.
Kayla Serratore, campus minister at both Liberty University and Lynchburg College, noted that the Liberty program received $1,051 from the Annual Appeal last year, while the Lynchburg received $1,751.
“A lot of our money goes toward buying hymnal books for Mass,” said Serratore. “We had discounted tickets for Summit, and we bought T-shirts for our [joint] fall retreat.”
Last year, Serratore also used Annual Appeal money to create 60 “Catholic Verse Finder” worksheets for Catholic Liberty students, a three-page laminated trifold with Scriptural citations for Catholic beliefs often challenged by other students at the predominantly Protestant school.
“Students absolutely love it,” said Serratore. “Being at Liberty University, when their friends talk to them about certain things – from the Eucharist, to why we’re okay with drinking and dancing, to everything in between – they’ll ask where you can find that in Scripture.”
Gianna De Rosa, who graduated from Liberty last year, now works at Christopher Newport University as part of the Campus Ministry Fellowship Program, which is funded in part by the Annual Appeal. She assists campus minister Chris Roy with everything from Bible studies to the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults program.
“I didn’t plan on doing anything in ministry, but towards the end of college, I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do, and [Kayla] told me about this program,” said De Rosa.
“I get to pour a lot into the students – since I’m so close in age with them, we have a lot of similar struggles,” she added. “Learning how to best minister to students has been really awesome.”
The program also includes the option to study for a master’s degree. De Rosa is starting online classes at Franciscan University in January, pursuing a master’s in theology and Christian ministry.
“[The Annual Appeal] is not just another tax write-off – it’s an investment in our diocesan community,” said Katie Yankoski, associate director for youth and young adults in the Office for Evangelization.
Yankoski gave the example of World Youth Day 2023 in Portugal, in which 60 Catholics from our diocese between the ages of 16 and 35 joined over a million Catholics worldwide in Lisbon. Along the way, they stopped in Lourdes, Santiago de Compostela, and Fátima. The Annual Appeal knocked about $1,000 off the cost of the trip per pilgrim.
“One of our youth ministers who came [to World Youth Day] talked about his experience at the Diocesan Youth Conference last year in a breakout session,” said Yankoski. “It’s good for the individual, but it’s also feeding our diocesan Church.”
“We also have one young adult who seriously discerned her vocation throughout [the pilgrimage] and is in her first year of being an aspirant,” Yankoski continued. “The events are great, and it’s great to go on a trip, but if it wasn’t for World Youth Day, it would have taken her a lot longer to pray through that. The Annual Appeal is making that possible.”
Donors and beneficiaries
At the parish level, the Annual Appeal contributed to upgrades at many churches in the last year, including a new confessional at St. Jude, Franklin; repairs to the rectory kitchen at Holy Infant, Elkton; and kneelers installed at Shepherd of the Hills, Ruckersville.
The new confessional at St. Jude was commissioned at the end of Mass on Nov. 1. Father Emmanuel Mensah, pastor of the Shrine of the Infant of Prague, Wakefield, and St. Jude, said that the parish contributed to the project, but the seed money came from the Annual Appeal.
“Normally, when I heard confessions, it was at the chapel, which is open. It’s all glass, and if they talk at the top of their voice, they can be heard, and that is not proper,” said Father Mensah. “So, the new confessional brings a lot of happiness to celebrate a wonderful sacrament very well.”
On a phone call with Father Michael Mugomba, pastor of both Holy Infant and Shepherd of the Hills, the sound of repairs to the kitchen being conducted was audible in the background.
“The restoration of the kitchen is something that is long overdue,” said Father Mugomba. “There was mice damage on the floor that needed to be fixed. The project is going to cost over $30,000. What we have just received from the Annual Appeal will help us greatly to meet the costs.”
At Shepherd of the Hills, the Annual Appeal helped meet the cost of the kneelers.
“Some parishioners were demanding them, and I also felt the need – kneelers are part of most Catholic churches,” said Father Mugomba. “There are times when people want to kneel … We had those who were so pious they were kneeling on the bare ground.”
“As I explained to some members of the parish, when we donate to the diocesan appeal, we gain back,” Father Mugomba added. “We are donors, and we are beneficiaries.”
Donate to the Annual Diocesan Appeal.