By Catholic Review
Mount St. Mary’s University has received a grant to support the Emmitsburg institution’s efforts to build a formation experience in financial and administrative literacy for seminarians.
The university received the $250,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., an Indianapolis-based philanthropic foundation.
“Mount St. Mary’s is well positioned to make a significant impact on the overall health of Catholic parishes throughout the country and the world,” university President Thomas H. Powell said in a statement. “As we train parish priests for their vocation, it is essential we provide them with the tools they need to be successful leaders and administrators, and we thank Lilly Endowment Inc. for supporting this vital initiative.”
Mount St. Mary’s Seminary Rector Monsignor Steven P. Rohlfs said in a statement that priests must demonstrate a variety of competencies related to personal and parish financial management and overall leadership, in addition to their pastoral duties.
“Priests must effectively manage their own finances and then successfully oversee the finances of the much larger corporation which is the parish,” Monsignor Rohlfs said in a statement. “Many priests will be asked to manage a cluster of parishes, making their financial knowledge even more crucial.”
The three-year grant provides funding to gather information from dioceses, survey Mount seminarians and recently ordained priests and develop new computer-aided learning modules to enhance seminarian learning in financial literacy and pastoral administration. Roundtable meetings will help to gather information and disseminate findings.
Mount St. Mary’s Seminary is the largest Catholic seminary in the United States, with more than 170 men studying for the priesthood.
“Mount St. Mary’s Seminary has a history of providing the Catholic Church with bold and insightful leadership,” Monsignor Rohlfs said in a statement. “Through the grant’s multi-faceted approach and cross-functional leadership model, we are taking important steps in remediating the financial and administrative challenges that parish priests face, to ensure they are well-prepared for the vocation to which God has called them.”
Copyright (c) Dec. 15, 2012 CatholicReview.org