Gulf Pine Catholic

12 Gulf Pine Catholic • November 22, 2024 Ministries of the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi Ministries From page 11 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Office of Finance Director: Tammy DiLorenzo Instructors come from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, St. Joseph Abby Seminary in Covington, along with a few of our local priests and dea- cons. The deacon candidates receive instruction from many of the same instructors our as seminarians. The first part of training is in “Spiritual Discernment,” learning to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, being introduced to Spirituality, prayer and the norms of the diaconate. The last 3 years of forma- tion concentrate on academics to give our candidates more training to aid in their duties once ordained. Candidates’ curriculum includes 6 scripture cours- es, 8 theology courses, introduction to Philosophy, 2 courses in Church History, 5 elective courses in Patristics -- Canon Law -- Multicultural Ministry -- etc., 4 courses in Homiletics and 4 Practicum courses in Liturgies, counsel- ing and apologetics. One recent and exciting aspect of Diaconate Formation is an effort to expand the number of our Hispanic deacons. The number of Hispanics in our diocese has tripled over the past 20 years. In an effort to minister to this strongly Catholic community we have added a special emphasis to increase the number of deacons to serve this community. We currently have nine Hispanics in formation. With the wonderful help of the USCCB’s SouthEast Pastoral Institute (SEPI) in Miami we have been able to add a Spanish track in addition to our English track of formation. SEPI’s mission is to facilitate the full participation of Hispanics in the mission of the Church and society as authentic missionary disciples. With SEPI’s help, our Hispanic candidates are taught in Spanish. The mul- ticultural aspect of the formation program has enhanced both the English AND Hispanic formation. It also teaches our men in formation how to effectively integrate different cultures to achieve something better than either alone. This multicultural experience can be directly applied to the parishes they are assigned. Finally, the Diaconate Program is supported through our diocese’s Catholic Sharing Appeal (CSA) and some grants. However, the lion’s share of funding comes from the CSA. We could not conduct the program without the generous support provided across our diocese through the CSA. GOD BLESS YOU and THANK YOU for supporting the Ministry of the Diaconate! Being mindful of God’s blessings and gifts to His Church, the Finance Office is called to demon- strate discipleship and good steward- ship of the financial assets of God’s Church in the Diocese of Biloxi. This year brought about several changes within the Department of Finance. Diocesan software upgrades to the cloud were a main focus during the year, bringing safer data storage to our financial records. We will continue to examine options to streamline the financial management process in the Finance Office as well as working toward options for improving financial reporting at the parishes and schools. Office of Faith Formation Associate Director: Amber Buckley The Office of Faith Formation has been active in forming inten- tional disciples of Jesus Christ who are prepared, purposeful, and eager to spread the Gospel Pro- clamation throughout the world as commissioned by Christ Himself in Matthew 28:19-20. To achieve this mission, faith formation has taken on a twofold task: to teach our young Church the Catechism as well as to grow their personal relationship with Christ. To better support our parishes in teaching the Catechism, religious education standards have been published for all catechists to use as a guideline for their grade-level curriculum. Religious education standards for our Catholic schools are in review and are projected to be published for the 2025- 2026 school year. To guide catechists in accompanying the young Church in forming a relationship with God, faith formation plans have been implement- ed. These plans focus on an individual’s personal faith life and provide com- mitments so that they can actively grow in faith. Our goal is to include faith formation plans throughout our Diocese to help all parishioners grow in rela- tionship with Christ. The Office of Faith Formation has also readily assisted in protecting our young Church through an update of our Safe Environment policies and proce- dures. With the use of a new program, known as Virtus , priests, employees, and volunteers take on responsibility for protecting our minors and vulnerable adults. Safety is of utmost importance regarding minors and vulnerable adults, and we are confident that this new program will serve our Diocese well in educating both adults and minors and in vetting all who are in contact with minors and vulnerable adults. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Office of Evangelization Director: Ray Lacy This has been a very busy year for the Office of Evangel- ization , in efforts to establish Path-ways to Discipleship, Parish Leadership Teams, Parish Eucharistic Revival Teams, a Eucharistic Evangelization Team, and the Diocesan Eucharistic Revival Project Team, to list a few. We have been participating in a three-year-long Eucharistic Revival. We have estab- lished teams in each of our parishes, some more active than others. The Diocesan Eucharistic Revival Committee set out planning many events throughout the year, happening all over our diocese. We have also seen the Rescue Project from ACTS XXIX be a very powerful experience. The Rescue Project has been viewed by hundreds around our diocese, in our parishes, some of our schools, the Housing facilities, and Catholic Charities. This expe- rience has been a blessing to see, bringing so many to healing and a deeper encounter with Jesus in the Eucharistic. MINISTRIES, PAGE 13