Annual Pastoral reports provide snapshot of a community

Parish pastoral reports provide critical information to diocesan leaders when considering a range of issues, from new construction to parish services.

Each parish completes the reports which provide the Chancellor’s office with important numeric and statistical information from each parish. Parishes with schools also provide information such as the number of students enrolled in the school and the number of teachers.
 
“The data collected by this report, along with the new October (Mass) count information, will provide us with the statistical overview we need for planning and for informing Bishop (Edward J.) Weisenburger of the most current parish activities and ministry,” said Chancellor Anne Morales in a Sept. 6, 2019, memo to pastors, administrators, parish staff and parish pastoral report preparers.

The request for parish reports occurred at the same time that staff from the Official Catholic Directory, a national compilation of information from dioceses, religious organizations and communities, published for more than a century by PJ Kenedy and Sons, sent a similar request to parishes for its 2020 edition.

Morales is responsible for reviewing both sets of information. She set deadlines of Nov. 4 to be submitted electronically to her office. The Catholic Directory, for the Diocese, is several pages long. The parish pastoral report runs about 25 pages.
 
The information submitted on each form serves different but equally critical ends. The Catholic Directory most notably becomes an official snapshot of the Diocese from 2019. It is also a catalogue used by the Internal Revenue Service to determine which organizations can be granted a tax exemption permitted by the federal tax code.

The pastoral reports provide key data that informs the bishop and diocesan directors on myriad issues. For instance, if a parish’s population continues to trend upward, it helps Property & Insurance Director John Shaheen reach out to parish leadership to determine if a new church needs to be built to accommodate the growth.
Or if the demographics of the population reflect a stronger Hispanic presence than previously recorded, a parish report could trigger a visit from diocesan Hispanic Ministry Coordinator and Dominican Sister Gladys Echenique to help getting Spanish-speaking parish leaders into catechetical training to assist in meeting the people’s pastoral needs.
 
Accurate parish information can help the Diocese secure grants from national agencies like the Catholic Church Extension Society, which provides some financial support for mission dioceses like Tucson.

Also, parishes with schools provide information that tracks enrollment and facilitates avenues for student assistance through the Catholic Tuition Support Organization (CTSO).

The October Mass count revealing attendance helps the bishop determine which parishes might need another priest or similar personnel resources.  
The pastoral report, the Mass count and the Catholic Directory are not the only requests that parishes receive from the Diocese. Throughout the year, they receive requests for information from Deacon Greg Henderson, diocesan chief finance officer, for financial reviews and in preparation for annual corporate board meetings. Child, Adolescent & Adult Protection Safe Environment Program Manager Rachel Guzman collects data in the spring for the annual audit mandated under the Dallas Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.