Audit shows faithful 'put their money where their heart is'

January 18, 2022

In reviewing an annual audit of the Diocese of Des Moines for the last fiscal year, it strikes the chair of the diocesan Finance Council just how generous the faithful have been.
“I’m awestruck at the beautiful display of generosity that has continued in one of the more difficult, stressful, tenuous times that probably any of us remembers. We’re incredibly grateful for that,” said Dan Kinsella, chair of the diocesan Finance Council and a managing partner at Deloitte. He consults with local businesses and Fortune 500 companies on how to manage their risks.
The audit determined that the Diocese is following standard accounting practices.
But more than that, it shows that parishioners were generous when the pandemic struck, and the Diocese was a good steward of those resources, Kinsella said.
Paraphrasing an old saying about putting one’s money where one’s mouth is, he said the faithful put their money where their heart is.
“We’ve been given a lesson through the pandemic to reflect on what’s important to us and it’s been pretty clear of the importance of faith,” Kinsella said. “I think that’s become pretty clear.”
When the pandemic began, the Diocese took steps to minimize increases in the Annual Diocesan Appeal, which funds services the Diocese provides parishes and Catholic schools. 
And yet, “we have achieved our goals faster than ever, which is unheard of,” Kinsella said. What that says to him is that people put their money toward what truly matters to them: their faith.
Another example is the outpouring of support the faithful are offering to help St. Mary Parish in Hamburg, which has struggled to build a center for religious education of its youth. 
The Flood of 2019 significantly damaged the church hall and the basement of the rectory, where religious education classes occurred. Insurance covered the repair and remodel of the church hall. The rectory, built in 1895, posed a problem. The cost to repair and bring it up to code was too extensive.
“People have had the opportunity to think it through and have found it in their heart to help,” Kinsella said. 
He urged the faithful to keep moving forward in support of their faith. Complete a survey online at dmdiocese.org/vision or on pages three and four of this edition of The Catholic Mirror and consider what role everyone can play in sharing the faith with others.
“We’ve demonstrated this commitment during this challenging time,” he said. “We’re good at taking care of everything within our four walls but our church is our people. How do we continue to advance our church with all of the abundance of blessings and resources we have in a way that engages our part of the world in an opportunistic fashion: to evangelize, to grow, to meet folks at the margins, to handle the challenging societal issues in a Christ-like way. I think we have such an opportunity to do that.”
 “We’ve proven we’re effectively getting through this pandemic in much better fashion than we thought,” Kinsella concluded. “Now, the best is yet to come.”