‘Your every act should be done with love’
‘Your every act should be done with love’CHARLOTTE — In a letter to parishioners to kick off the 2017 Diocesan Support Appeal, Bishop Peter Jugis shares the words of St. Paul to the Corinthians, “Your every act should be done with love.” These words serve as the theme for this year’s campaign, which funds more than 50 programs and ministries across the Diocese of Charlotte.
“Sacred Scripture is filled with references to love and charity,” he notes. “Love is much more than just an emotion. It calls us to action. It moves us to care for those in need.”
With that in mind, the people of the diocese are encouraged to help meet the 2017 goal of $5,670,000. This represents an increase of $370,000 or 7 percent over 2016, in large part because of the rapidly growing seminarian program.
The diocese currently has 23 men in formation at three seminaries, including seven enrolled at the new St. Joseph College Seminary in Charlotte, and it is anticipated that 10 more men will begin studies this fall. Five men are expected to be ordained to the priesthood on June 17.
The DSA campaign funds more than 50 programs, including the core operations of 23 ministries and agencies that serve thousands of people across the diocese – most notably, Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte for its counseling, food pantries, pregnancy support, refugee resettlement, elder ministry, Respect Life and other programs, as well as the programs and ministries of the Education Vicariate. It also supports multicultural ministries, seminarian education, the permanent diaconate, the annual Eucharistic Congress, and the diocese’s housing corporation.
Catholic Charities receives 34 percent of the funds collected in the campaign. Other DSA funds are allocated to: the Education Vicariate (29 percent); multicultural ministries (15 percent); vocations (10 percent); and the Eucharistic Congress and the diocesan housing ministry (7 percent). Campaign administrative costs are projected to be 5 percent.
Parishioners in all 92 parishes and missions in the diocese fund the annual DSA campaign.
Parishes that exceed their goal get to keep the extra funds they collect, while parishes which fall short of their goal in donations from parishioners make up the shortfall from their operating budgets.
Last year, the DSA campaign raised a record $5,760,369 from 17,360 donors across the diocese.
In his letter, Bishop Jugis said the DSA campaign “gives us an opportunity to ‘put love into action’ through personal prayers and financial gifts that will impact the lives of thousands of our brothers and sisters throughout the diocese.”
“We are able to share our love with others because God first loves us,” he said. “I am confident that you will put your love into action and help us bring Christ’s love to others.”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
How to support the DSA
How to support the DSAPLEDGE: Make a pledge in response to a mailing you receive or in-pew appeal at your local parish. An individual DSA pledge may be paid in up to 10 installments by EFT, credit card or check. Pledging allows you to make a greater gift over time, without overburdening your budget. When you make a pledge, you will receive monthly reminder statements in the mail or by email until your pledge is paid, or until December 2017.
DONATE ONLINE: Donate online at www.charlottediocese.org/dsa, either with a one-time gift or recurring monthly gifts via credit or debit card. (If you give online, please do not complete a pledge envelope at your local parish. This could result in having two gift records.)
ONE-TIME DONATIONS: Give a one-time contribution in response to a mailing you receive or in-pew appeal at your local parish. Please make checks payable to the “DSA” and note the name of your parish in the memo line of the check. Do not send cash through the mail.
STOCK DONATION: Make a donation of publicly traded securities and receive the tax benefits for giving appreciated stock. Instructions are online at www.charlottediocese.org/donations.
Where does your money go?
The purpose of the Diocesan Support Appeal is to help provide the annual funding necessary to carry out the mission of our diocese – namely to fulfill our call to “grow ever more perfectly into a community of praise, worship and witness, and to become a leaven of service and sign of peace through love in the Piedmont and Western North Carolina.”
All parishes and missions in the diocese help fund the annual DSA. Parishes that exceed their goal in donations receive a rebate of 100 percent for the additional funds. Parishes that fall short of their goal in donations have the shortfall taken out of their operating budgets.
PARISH/MISSION, CITY: DSA GOAL
Christ the King Mission, Kings Mountain: $4,793
Christ the King Church, High Point: $13,197
Divine Redeemer Church, Boonville: $25,091
Good Shepherd Mission, King: $12,556
Holy Angels Church, Mount Airy: $23,889
Holy Cross Church, Kernersville: $76,740
Holy Family Church, Clemmons: $145,245
Holy Infant Church, Reidsville: $19,625
Holy Redeemer Church, Andrews: $5,757
Holy Spirit Church, Denver: $61,104
Holy Trinity Church, Taylorsville: $6,814
Immaculate Conception Church, Forest City: $39,450
Immaculate Conception Church, Hendersonville: $137,112
Immaculate Conception Mission, Canton: $3,486
Immaculate Heart of Mary Church High Point: $138,040
Immaculate Heart of Mary Mission, Hayesville: $19,757
Our Lady of Consolation Church, Charlotte: $47,789
Our Lady of Fatima Mission, Winston-Salem: $9,542
Our Lady of Grace Church, Greensboro: $107,215
Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission, Cherokee: $4,279
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Charlotte: $67,298
Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Monroe: $53,138
Our Lady of Mercy Church, Winston-Salem: $78,145
Our Lady of the Americas Church, Biscoe: $28,424
Our Lady of the Angels Church, Marion: $10,320
Our Lady of the Annunciation Church, Albemarle: $28,199
Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Charlotte: $51,105
Our Lady of the Highways Church, Thomasville: $16,961
Our Lady of the Mountains, Highlands: $16,554
Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Lexington: $19,388
Prince of Peace Mission, Robbinsville: $2,873
Queen of the Apostles Church, Belmont: $85,112
Sacred Heart Church, Brevard: $53,675
Sacred Heart Mission, Wadesboro: $2,320
Sacred Heart Mission, Burnsville: $8,887
Sacred Heart Church, Salisbury: $97,907
St. Aloysius Church, Hickory: $121,253
St. Andrew the Apostle Church, Mars Hill: $8,499
St. Ann Church, Charlotte: $97,137
St. Barnabas Church, Arden: $80,320
St. Benedict Church, Greensboro: $24,484
St. Benedict the Moor Church Winston-Salem: $12,369
St. Bernadette Mission Linville: $32,711
St. Charles Borromeo Church, Morganton: $49,338
St. Dorothy Church, Lincolnton: $26,555
St. Elizabeth Church, Boone: $39,745
St. Eugene Church, Asheville: $79,792
St. Frances of Rome Mission, Sparta: $8,858
St. Francis of Assisi Church, Franklin: $28,086
St. Francis of Assisi Church, Jefferson: $15,535
St. Francis of Assisi Church, Lenoir: $25,859
St. Francis of Assisi Church, Mocksville: $17,736
St. Gabriel Church, Charlotte: $358,991
St. Helen Mission, Spencer Mountain: $5,158
St. James Church, Concord: $113,424
St. James Church, Hamlet: $12,687
St. Joan of Arc, Candler: $27,599
St. John Baptist de La Salle Church, North Wilkesboro: $16,130
St. John Lee Korean Church, Charlotte: $14,756
St. John Neumann Church, Charlotte: $106,482
St. John the Baptist Church, Tryon: $44,590
St. John the Evangelist Church, Waynesville: $16,576
St. Joseph Church, Asheboro: $31,678
St. Joseph Church, Bryson City: $5,947
St. Joseph Church, Kannapolis: $18,515
St. Joseph Church, Newton: $24,330
St. Joseph - Vietnamese Church, Charlotte: $44,545
St. Joseph of the Hills Church, Eden: $11,596
St. Jude Mission, Sapphire: $17,625
St. Lawrence Basilica, Asheville: $71,873
St. Leo the Great Church, Winston-Salem: $153,526
St. Lucien Church, Spruce Pine: $8,617
St. Luke Church, Mint Hill: $101,104
St. Margaret Mary Church, Swannanoa: $23,016
St. Margaret of Scotland Church, Maggie Valley: $12,265
St. Mark Church, Huntersville: $251,697
St. Mary Church, Greensboro: $45,268
St. Mary Church, Shelby: $24,669
St. Mary, Mother of God Church, Sylva: $16,984
St. Matthew Church, Charlotte: $834,178
St. Michael the Archangel Church, Gastonia: $73,256
St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte: $84,673
St. Paul the Apostle Church, Greensboro: $106,992
St. Peter Church, Charlotte: $136,095
St. Philip the Apostle Church, Statesville: $47,000
St. Pius X Church, Greensboro: $184,286
St. Stephen Mission, Elkin: $14,426
St. Thérèse Church, Mooresville: $167,200
St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Charlotte: $105,471
St. Vincent de Paul Church, Charlotte: $124,720
St. William Church, Murphy: $21,989
TOTAL :$5,670,000
CHARLOTTE — A former seminarian has been accused of sexual abuse and assault while serving in youth ministry at Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury.
John Brian Kaup has been named in a civil lawsuit filed by an unnamed female parishioner and her parents, who allege that he raped the 17-year-old the night of Dec. 25, 2013, on church grounds.
Salisbury police investigated the matter in 2016 with no criminal charges filed.
The civil lawsuit, filed Feb. 2 in Mecklenburg County Superior Court, also alleges that Kaup, about 27 at the time, continued to have sex with the teenager until mid-2014, not long before she left for college.
After Kaup left the seminarian program in May 2014, Father John Putnam, who had been pastor at Sacred Heart Church, and not knowing of the allegations, hired him to work as the youth minister at St. Mark Church in Huntersville, where Father Putnam had been transferred as pastor. Kaup worked there until the summer of 2016.
The Diocese of Charlotte and Bishop Peter Jugis are co-defendants in the civil lawsuit, which claims that they were negligent in their oversight of Kaup.
According to the lawsuit, the unnamed plaintiff and her parents are seeking a total of at least $150,000 in actual and punitive damages from Kaup, the diocese and the bishop.
Kaup is no longer employed by the diocese or in ministry in the diocese, according to diocesan spokesman David Hains. Beyond that, Hains said, "we cannot discuss ongoing litigation."
— Catholic News Herald