Heart of a Shepherd Campaign

CAMPAIGN PRAYER
FOR THOSE WHO ARE AND WILL BE OUR SHEPHERDS

Father of blessing, who always abundantly provides for your people, continue to send priests to preach, sanctify and serve. Create in your priests the Heart of a Shepherd. May all of our priests trust in your guidance and care as they minister to your holy people. Inspire and sustain the laborers in your vineyard, who have faithfully served our Diocese, especially those who are retired. Give courage and perseverance to those recently ordained, let your Spirit develop within them a true love for your people, as you cultivate their gifts and talents for ministry. Preserve our men now enrolled in our seminaries, help them discern their vocations and be formed by the graces and resources given them. Help our Diocese build a culture of vocations to inspire our young people to hear the Lord’s call. We ask you humbly to bless this campaign, which enables all of us to open our hearts in prayer and share our resources to be good stewards as we build for today and provide for tomorrow. Bless the people of this Diocese who have so generously supported our local seminary so that it may yield an abundant harvest. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Letter from Fr. Greg Olszewski

As you may know, our Diocese has embarked on a campaign to raise $30 million, called the Heart of a Shepherd campaign. This initiative seeks to raise funds to encourage vocations, support the lives of our seminarians, relieve the weight of financial burdens of the newly ordained, and provide the proper care for the pensions of our retired priests. Our parish will benefit from this effort as well. Through this effort, we have an opportunity to make capital improvements at the parish and Mater Dei Academy, such as repairing roofs, purchasing a new baptismal font, and replacing the retaining wall.

We hope to raise $341,323 in pledges for this campaign. For every dollar pledged up to $341,323, our parish will receive sixty-five (65) percent of funds received. For every dollar raised beyond this amount, eighty (80) percent will stay with our parish for the needs outlined here. The remaining funds will go toward supporting our seminaries, retired clergy, and newly-ordained clergy.

Your generous gift will have a powerful impact on our parish’s participation in this campaign and will inspire other members of our congregation when considering their own sacrificial gift.

I ask your prayerful consideration of this important request.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Bless you for all you have done and continue to do in the name of God and for our parish community.

Pax et Bonum,

Rev. Greg Olszewski

Parish Administrator, Our Lady of Mount Carmel 

The Heart of a Shepherd initiative is an extraordinary endeavor designed to strengthen and better meet the needs of the Saint Mary and Borromeo Seminaries, its seminarians, and our newly-ordained and retired clergy. In addition, this effort will aid our parishes in recovery from the economic impact of the pandemic.

Case for Support

CAMPAIGN GOAL: $30 MILLION

PART I: RENOVATE OUR SEMINARIES
$20 MILLION

The interior renovation of Borromeo Seminary and Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology is long overdue; the building is over 70 years old. The holistic formation of priests in our Diocese requires renovations to provide suitable physical space for:

• Liturgical worship, prayer, and reflection

• Fostering formation and human development

• Encouraging relational and vocational growth

• Private study

• Inviting safe social interactions

Renovations will include renovated student rooms for all students with individual bathrooms for graduate students, individually controlled heating and cooling, ADA accessible rooms, faculty and guest suite renovations, new furniture, an upgraded elevator and new elevator connecting all floors, common lounge area and study space, laundry rooms, and an updated Reconciliation Chapel.

Resurrection Chapel, a prayerful space where seminarians gather five times a day for prayer and discern their vocation, will also be renovated with a new double door entryway, installation of a Baptismal font, refurbished pews and kneelers, pipe organ restoration, new lighting, and new liturgical furnishings.

PART II: CARE FOR RETIRED PRIESTS
$7 MILLION

In our Diocese, we are fortunate to have 258 active priests and 97 retired priests who have dedicated their lives to serving us. Many priests continue to serve our community of faith after retirement, and we are called to do what is necessary to provide them with adequate care. However, the Retired Clergy Pension Fund is not yet fully funded, placing more of the burden on parishes to ensure that priests receive adequate pensions. To secure proper care for our clergy, while reducing annual premiums for parishes, this initiative will allocate $7 million to meet this important obligation.

PART III: SUPPORT FOR NEWLY-ORDAINED CLERGY
$3 MILLION

When seminarians are ordained, many are burdened with financial hardship. A seminarian graduating today may have accumulated between $8,000 and $112,000 in education debt, for an average of $38,000. Support is needed to ensure that these priests can dedicate their lives to the Lord and serve our communities without the weight of financial hardship. Our goal is to invest $3 million in an endowment dedicated to loan repayment assistance for newly-ordained priests.

PART IV: SUPPORT TO YOUR PARISH

The many vibrant parishes that comprise our Diocese of Cleveland serve as a pillar of faith, hope, and charity in our communities. In direct response to the challenges set forth by the COVID-19 pandemic, this campaign will provide an opportunity for our parishes across the Diocese to raise funds for pressing local needs. Please contact your parish for more information about your own parish’s vision for the future.