“As you’ve heard the theme for our pastoral planning process “All Things New: Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future,” is centered on the virtue of hope as we begin a process that will undoubtedly not be an easy one. As a diocese, we will pass through moments of grieving together, and grief often involves intense sadness, feelings of shock and numbness, as well as feelings of denial and anger.
What I would like to place before us is broader sense of what it means to be the Church. When St. Teresa of Calcutta was asked how she would define the Church, she said, “But who is the Church? You and I…The Church are those who follow him.” The Church is not primarily a church building but people who are disciples of Jesus Christ.
…What I hope for is a vision that enables us to fell that no matter how many church building we have , we are welcome in all of them. I want us to see that we are blessed with just over 100,000 Catholics in our diocese and that we are all one family in faith. We all know that in our families, there are times when we disagree, times we hurt each other’s feelings and times where we have to lay down our own wants for the good of those we love. Our church family is no different. As a family of faith, we will all have to make some changes, some sacrifices, to build healthy communities, healthy priests and pastoral teams, healthy budgets and healthy liturgies.” -Bishop Patrick Neary, C.S.C.