Feb. 29, 2024 Parish Link

Fr. Tolton Religious Award - Our local Diocesan Catholic Committee on Scouting has created a new patch award for Venerable Father Augustine Tolton! The award requirements are patterned after similar programs from the National Catholic Committee on Scouting and Scouts of any national program may earn the award. Contact the Catholic Committee on Scouting at scouts@dio.org for details.

Retreats for Catechists - As part of the Evermode Institute formation program, all catechists and parish catechetical leaders participate in an annual retreat. The next retreats are Saturday, April 6 and Saturday, May 4. Dates for the 2024-2025 school year will be announced in Flocknote emails from the Office for Catholic Education (sign up for Flocknote here.) Hospitality is available starting at 9:00 AM with the retreat starting at 9:30. The day concludes around 2:30 PM. The Evermode Institute is at 4867 Laverna Road in Springfield. The entrance will say “South Lobby” on the door. Register expected attendance for either date to catechesis@dio.org. Deadline to register is March 21.

Adult Confirmation - Bishop Paprocki will celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation for adults who have been catechized but have not yet been Confirmed on Sunday, May 19, 2024 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield. Details, including suggested formation programs, are posted on the diocesan website at https://dio.org/catechesis/sacramental-prep/. Confirmandi must register for this event by May 9. For more information, contact Kyle Holtgrave in the Office for Catholic Education at (217) 698-8500, ext. 154, or email kholtgrave@dio.org.

Community of Religious Educators (CORE) - The next CORE meeting is Saturday, March 23 at 10 AM at St. Mary in Shumway. The main topic for the meeting is to develop standards for an orientation program for new catechists. CORE stands for Community of Religious Educators and is a regular gathering of religious educators for ongoing professional development, insights into diocesan initiatives and for networking with one another. Lunch is provided. Please register by March 13 by contacting Kyle Holtgrave at kholtgrave@dio.org or call (217) 698-8500, ext. 154. More information is available at https://dio.org/catechesis/parish-catechetical-leaders/.

PSR submissions from each parish/school needed - Catholic Times is accepting PSR articles or photos for its annual PSR issue (which will be in September to time with Catechetical Sunday, but asking for information now before this PSR school year ends). We invite parishes to submit either a PSR article (300 words or less) about your program or a good story or a PSR photo with short caption by May 24 using this online form. Photos should be 300 dpi or better and sent as image files (such as .jpeg or .pdf). Please do not imbed the photo in a Word document. For articles, include your parish name, town, as well as the author and his or her title. For questions, email Andrew Hansen at ahansen@dio.org.

Have a new parishioner in the past few months? Someone leave your parish? Do this - Please send all new updates (names and addresses of your parishioners) for subscriptions for Catholic Times to Ruth Staab (rstaab@dio.org) and/or Laurie Weakley (lweakley@dio.org). This includes new parishioners, people who moved out of your parish, or those who have died. As a reminder, if you do this regularly, you will not have to send us massive updates later on. Thank you!

Need several more monstrance photos from parishes - Catholic Times has been featuring monstrances from our parishes during the Eucharistic Revival on the last page of the magazine. We only have a few more and would like several more to get us to the close the revival in the summer. If your parish has not been featured, please take a photo of your monstrance, with the Blessed Sacrament in it, and take the photo vertically. See example for how to take the picture. Send it to Andrew Hansen: ahansen@dio.org

New policies

Effective Immediately:

https://dio.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Book-II-%C2%A7524-Leaves-of-Absence.pdf – Revisions to the Leaves of Absence policy made on 12-21-23 incorporating statutory changes for 2024.

Effective April 1, 2024:

https://dio.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Book-V-%C2%A74250-Deposit-and-Loan-Fund-Policy.pdf - This policy is intended to give a general overview of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois Deposit and Loan Fund and the procedures of the same.

https://dio.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Book-II-%C2%A74000-Salary-and-Benefits-for-Diocesan-Priests.pdf – This policy sets out the Salary and Benefits for Diocesan Priests, please note §4001.3. Stipends and Stole Fees.

Let us know if your parish/community has a young adult group - Does your parish or community have a Catholic Young Adult Group? Please contact Maggie Koester at the diocese (mkoester@dio.org) with the group’s contact information, social media page, and any other information as the diocese is building a new Young Adult Ministry webpage.

Very limited National Eucharistic Congress tickets available for nearly half price - The Diocese of Springfield in Illinois has pre-purchased weeklong passes to the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis this July at a discounted rate, and we’d like to offer the opportunity to the people of our diocese.

Passes are $200 (a savings of $160) and can be purchased at https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=XebMKt. Confirmation of this purchase will come in an email in which you will receive a payment code. After you receive that payment code, you will then need to register for the Eucharistic Congress itself by going here: https://www.eucharisticcongress.org/register. When checking out after clicking a “full event pass,” you will then put in your code during the payment option so the price becomes $0. Lodging, meals, and travel will need to be booked and paid for separately.

Lenten webpage - Check out the diocese's Lenten webpage where people can find inspiration, resources, and support for their Lenten journey, especially in seeking out the sacrament of confession.

(Find this announcement to copy and paste in the bulletin announcement section)

Curia Personnel Updates - Steve Logan has accepted a new position as the CFO for Ave Maria University in Florida. Steve’s last day will be March 14^th.  Mark Brummer, current Controller, will assume the role of Department Director and Diocesan Finance Officer as of March 15^th. Mark has hit the ground running in his relatively short tenure here and is well positioned to assume these broader responsibilities.

Ali Smith, Director, Office for Safe Environment, has accepted a position as a child welfare specialist with the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services. Her last day was February 22^nd. Related to this, Debbie Maynerich, Administrative Assistant, is retiring at the end of May. Two new positions have been posted at dio.org/jobs. Please share.

DCJH Donations:  The DCJH Allocation Committee will be meeting soon to grant DCJH funds to applicants.  Please send DCJH donations to the diocesan finance office so we have an accurate accounting of funds available to grant to organizations.  If you have any questions, contact Cindy Callan, 217-321-1137.

March Word of Life: March’s edition of Word of Life is now available. Word of Life is a monthly resource for parishes.  The resource is available in both English and Spanish, in both PDF or Microsoft Word formats.  Each monthly issue contains information such as:  a feature reflection for the month, intercessions for life, quotes for your bulletin, and art for your bulletin, webpage or Facebook page.

Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat: For people affected by abortion, September 27-29, 2024, Villa Maria Retreat Center. Cost is $150. Scholarships are available for those not able to pay the full registration fee. Please let others know about this healing opportunity.  For more information call 217-698-4456, or email projectrachel@dio.org

Springfield Right to Life Art Contest: Calling all young artists.  The “Children Helping Children” PRO-LIFE 2025 Calendar Art Contest for grades 5-12 is now accepting ARTWORK submissions. The competition is open to all artists in the Springfield Diocese and has cash prizes. If you would like more information on contest rules please visit the Springfield Right to Life website at https://springfieldrtl.org or contact our office at 217-523-2700.

Looking for spring/summer work? - Calvary Cemetery in Springfield is hiring seasonal trimmers for the spring and summer. These are part-time, temporary positions (mornings and early afternoons). $14/hour. Must be 18 to apply. Call (217) 523-3726 or email director@calvary.dio.org for information.

Feel free to copy and paste this into your bulletins.