Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I invite you today to embark on a new path with me—a Journey in Faith. This is a call from the Holy Spirit to examine how we live our Catholic faith and how we can best support our parishes, our priests, and one another for generations to come.

This work is a culmination of over a year of seeking feedback, discussion, and prayer.  In addition to my own conversations throughout the diocese, I worked with an Envisioning Team, a group of 16 clergy, deacons and lay people from across the Archdiocese. Together, we reflected on where we have been as an archdiocese, where we are today, and where we want to go. I am grateful for their hard work.

Our vision is to be an engaged archdiocesan community of joyful missionary disciples, centered in our Eucharistic relationship with Jesus Christ and united through our legacy of faith. This vision will come to life through our three key priorities: evangelization, leadership formation, and pastoral planning. We must create the conditions for missionary discipleship to flourish, priests to be supported in their vocation, and every parish, school, and ministry to be part of a sustainable and spirit-filled network of evangelizing communities.

In order to achieve this vision and mission, we must address the challenges facing our archdiocese today, which include regional and archdiocesan population shifts, a decline in the importance and practice of religion in our society, and too few priests to staff 160 parishes. The net result of these challenges is that we are limited in the time, energy, and resources we are able to allocate to current ministry needs associated with sustaining and growing our Church.

Journey in Faith will examine the current organizational structure of parishes and schools to evaluate how they can best meet the needs of the faithful and address the challenges facing the Church today. It will be a discernment of how we will move from simply maintaining the parishes we have, towards a more mission-focused network of parishes.

You will be invited to participate in sessions at your parish to offer feedback, share ideas, and express hopes or concerns. These are real opportunities for dialogue and discernment. I ask that you approach them with an open heart and trust in God’s providence. I want to hear from you. 

What can you do now?

·  Pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance

·  Stay informed through parish communications

·  Support your parish through service and stewardship

·  Join a small group or faith formation opportunity

·  Encourage and support your parish leaders

·  Pray for our Archdiocese and clergy

This journey will not be easy, but I believe it will be fruitful. I truly believe the Holy Spirit is calling us forward — to TRUST each other, to TRANSFORM our Church, and to do it TOGETHER. If we walk this path with courage, with faith, and with love — listening to one another and to God — we can renew our Church and build something lasting for generations to come.

With you on this Journey in Faith,

Archbishop Thomas Zinkula

Archdiocese of Dubuque