Capital Projects In San Antonio

A visitor e-mailed me to say that Our Lady of the Atonement is starting a capital campaign to raise $4,000,000 to finish out the unfinished school expansion and other improvements. Clearly that's necessary, as the unfinished part of the school is a fire and safety hazard. Let's hope a revitalized school can attract new enrollment to fill it.

But the visitor also sent along links to the Archdiocese of San Antonio's "On the Way - ¡Andale!" capital campaign. Its purpose and scope are explained in this link.

Thanks be to God! We have surpassed $55 million in gifts and pledges and are at 92% of our goal! So far about 18,000 families have contributed, and I am most grateful to them, our priests, and all our volunteers who have persevered in running this race of the On the Way - ¡Andale! Capital Campaign!

I have already approved over 230 Parish projects and 7 Archdiocesan Projects that are now in progress. From parking lots, A/C units, and roof repairs to Catholic School renovations, a Science Wing, new kitchens, new classrooms and Adoration chapels. Every project is important and makes our parishes more beautiful, more inviting, and a welcoming home for all of us, new and current Catholics alike.

In the Archdiocese of San Antonio, we are growing!

This link provides a more detailed look at the individual projects, the fundraising goals, and the amounts pledged -- in some cases, pledges and gifts far exceed goals. Typical parish projects listed include "Grounds landscape at new campus"; "New HVAC system for the church; upgrade church interior; eliminate school debt"; "relocation and redesign of the HVAC system"; "Build new restrooms"; "Roofing of the Hall with Metal Roof", and so forth.

Since many existing ordinariate parish facilities are in the sun belt, I've got to assume these need regular upgrades and replacement of HVAC. Plumbing ages in all buildings. Our Lady of Walsingham, as far as I can tell, is the only ordinariate facility that is remotely new, which says to me that just about every other one is probably due for a new roof. St Barnabas Omaha got lucky with a major bequest, although I would bet that if the parish were to list needed upgrades to their aged facility, the total would exhaust that amount and more.

Yet so far, there hasn't been a peep from Houston on the need for a capital campaign, even though the ordinariate is approaching its tenth anniversary, and as far as I know, there have been no serious capital projects anywhere in the ordinariate during that period.

As far as I can see, Bp Lopes and Fr Perkins are giving no thought to the future, while doing what they can to paint a soft-focus and sometimes completely misleading picture of the present. But Houston struggles just to run its bishop's appeal. It doesn't have the resources to run a capital campaign.

This to me is just one more reason why new Catholics concerned about stewardship should be looking carefully about where their contributions are, and aren't, going in the ordinariate.