The Diocesan Communicator is delivered through Flocknote.  You are now able to read the information right in your email message!

If you have any thoughts or suggestions to share, please email Sara at sshusta@dioceseofmarquette.org and John at jfee@dioceseofmarquette.org.

If you are looking for past issues, please visit:  

June 15, 2023      Diocesan Priests’ Retirement Collection Remittance Deadline (Administration & Finance)

June 20, 2023      Annual Investment Pool Video Conference (Administration & Finance)

Aug. 8, 2023        National Church Collection (Administration & Finance)

Aug. 13, 2023      National Church Collection (Administration & Finance)

Aug. 31, 2023      Parish Annual Financial Report Deadline (Administration & Finance)

Sept. 1, 2023       Supplemental Personnel Policy Change Deadline (Administration & Finance)

In early-June, the annual “Prayer Intention Card” mailing from the Bishop’s Office was direct-mailed to all registered households. Helping to fulfill one of his primary obligations, to pray for the people of the Diocese of Marquette, Bishop John Doerfler invites parishioners to send personal prayer requests. Returned prayer cards are kept in his private chapel, where he will pray for the intentions for the next year. Please encourage your parishioners to respond. A bulletin announcement is included for your convenience.

To help keep Catholics informed of pertinent issues on both the State and National level, I encourage Catholics to sign up for notices from the Michigan Catholic Conference and the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops.   These vehicles issue timely notices and information on issues pertinent to the Catholic Church.  
 
If you have not already signed up for these action alerts, I encourage you to do so.  I would also ask you to help me spread the word about these valuable resources that help to keep Catholics informed and enable them to take timely action on important issues.
 
You may sign up for alerts from the Michigan Catholic Conference by following this link: https://www.micatholic.org/advocacy/catholic-advocacy-network/
 
You may sign up for alerts from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops by following this link: https://www.votervoice.net/USCCB/home

Any priest of the diocese that will be attending the Steubenville Youth Conference July 28-30, 2023, in St. Paul, Minnesota, with students from their parish may send an email to mtomasi@dioceseofmarquette.org to be included in the group letter of good standing that will be sent to the Archdiocese of Minneapolis-St. Paul or the appropriate archdiocese or diocese.

Priests or Deacons of the diocese that will be traveling outside of the Diocese of Marquette should request a Letter of Good Standing prior to their departure.  As the letter needs to be signed by the Chancellor, the request should be submitted as soon as possible.  To submit a Priest Letter of Good Standing Request, complete the online form at:  Priest Letter of Good Standing Request Form
 
To submit a Deacon Letter of Good Standing Request, complete the online form at: Deacon Letter of Good Standing Request Form. The forms may also be found at: https://www.dioceseofmarquette.org/forms.

Registration is now open for Fall 2023 Confirmations.  You can find more information about Confirmation requirements on the Diocesan website at https://dioceseofmarquette.org/diocesanconfirmation.

The Masses are scheduled as follows:

St. Mary Rockland Vicariate Confirmations

Our Lady of Peace, Ironwood     11 a.m. CT/12 noon ET      Sept. 23, 2023

St. Joseph & St. Patrick Vicariate Confirmations

St. Joseph & St. Patrick, Escanaba         2:30 p.m. ET                      Oct. 1, 2023

Most Holy Name of Jesus Vicariate Confirmations

Sacred Heart, Calumet                           11:30 a.m. ET                      Oct. 7, 2023                           

St. John Neumann Vicariate Confirmations

St. John Neumann, Spalding                  3 p.m. CT/4 p.m. ET           Oct. 15, 2023

Register at:  https://form.jotform.com/DioceseofMarquette/confirmation-registration-fall-2023

If you have any questions please contact Mark Salisbury, 906-227-9127 or msalisbury@dioceseofmarquette.org.

Below are website links that will help you explore Eucharistic Teaching and discover practical ways to spread a love for the Eucharist!  

Additionally, the links below can give you ideas from other parishes to promote the Parish Year of the Revival.

Look for this information and more on the Diocesan evangelization page which will be updated regularly.

There will be an email sent later this month inviting all Faith Formation Coordinators to trainings (late August and early September) which will be held in regional locations.  Please consider attending one of these important sessions.

The 2023 Parish Annual Administrative Report will be available online on the Diocesan website on June 30, 2023.   An email will also be sent to all parishes with the link to the report. PAAR submissions are due to the Diocese by Sept. 30, 2023. Please contact Sara Shusta at sshusta@dioceseofmarquette.org with questions on PAAR submission requirements or for general form assistance. The PAAR is a completely separate report from the PAFR which is referenced in the finance section of this newsletter.

If your parish, school or other Catholic entity has photos from liturgies or events, please feel free to share them with The U.P. Catholic and other diocesan media by sending them to news@dioceseofmarquette.org. If you are sending from a phone, please send at Full, Original or Actual Size.

Parish conversions to new Sage Intacct accounting software have been delayed, as the Administration and Finance Department is focusing resources on the effort to incorporate parishes into independent civil entities. Once incorporations are complete, we will update those bookkeepers who expressed interest in converting first on the new conversion timeline. Please contact Casey Banks if you have any questions. 

Have you ever wondered what drives returns in your parish or school investment account? Do you want to know more about what kind of assets the Church invests in? Are you curious about the benefits of joining the National Catholic Investment Pool? 

If so, please mark your calendars now to attend the Annual Investment Pool Virtual Conference and get a chance to talk with financial experts from Captrust and Michigan Catholic Conference.  This year’s conference will be held on June 20, 2023 from 4-6 p.m. ET.   To register for this event, please click here: https://www.jotform.com/70323169336151.  

Thank you for all who have already sent proceeds from diocesan collections to the office. We ask that all parishes and missions who have not yet remitted donations from the Mission collection (held on Jan. 15, 2023), Marquette Diocesan Catholic Schools collection (held on Feb. 22 and 26, 2023), and St. Joseph Association/Good Shepherd Sunday collection (held April 30, 2023) to please do so as soon as possible. Parishes should also remit Rice Bowl offerings collected during Lent to the diocesan office as soon as possible.

Please be sure to mark 2023 Diocesan Collection Schedule remittance deadlines on your calendar to ensure parishioner donations are transferred to individual organizations promptly for maximum impact. Bookkeepers are also reminded to include Combined Collection Transmittal forms with their payments to the Diocese. These collection resources can be found at https://dioceseofmarquette.org/administration-finance and in Addendum #1 and Addendum #2.

Please contact Irene McCauley with questions regarding parish remittance deadlines.  

The 2023 Parish Annual Financial Report will be available online on the Diocesan website at dioceseofmarquette.org/parish-annual-financial-report on June 15, 2023. PAFR submissions will be due to the Diocese by Aug. 31, 2023 and must include a Statement of Financial Position/Balance Sheet and Statement of Revenue & Expense/Income Statement attachment for each parish submission. Please contact Irene McCauley with questions on PAFR submission requirements or for general form assistance. 

The Governance Report is due Sept. 30, 2023 and has been included in Addendum #3. Completed reports or questions should be sent directly to Irene McCauley.

Please plan to join us next fall for the Workshop on Tuesday, Oct. 10, for a day of education and fun. This year it is being held at St. Joseph’s Parish, 1889 Prairie Avenue, Ishpeming. More information will be sent out soon. You can check out the website at any time for last year’s workshop information and for this year’s upcoming details. We hope to see you there! Thanks for all you do.

MCC is now offering a 24/7 hotline to file losses and claims at (833) MCC-LOSS (833-622-5677)! This hotline can be used to file claims for workers’ compensation, property damage, auto injury, general liability, cyber liability, student accidents, and some boiler/machinery damage and is the quickest and most effective way to receive assistance with these incidents. Please call the new hotline to file claims with Gallagher Bassett. For more information, please visit micatholic.org/risk-management/file-a-claim/ or see Addendum #4 for summary page with these resources.

Just a reminder that all state/federally-mandated employment posters are available on the Michigan Catholic Conference website. These posters can be found at http://www.micatholic.org/risk-management/information-and-forms/ and are updated routinely. For more information regarding employment posting requirements, please contact Michigan Catholic Conference’s Risk Management department at 1-800-395-5565. 

There have been several changes in diocesan staff in the last year. Please refer to the Diocesan Directory for updated contact information. This can be found on the diocesan website at https://dioceseofmarquette.org/staff.  

Mark your calendars for Baraga Days 2023 which will be held Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023 in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. The full itinerary and registration forms can be found in the Spring 2023 Baraga Bulletin and on our website at www.bishopbaraga.org. Space is limited for the Vespers Cruise on Friday evening and the Banquet on Saturday.  Please make your reservations early to ensure a spot.

A direct mailing was sent to all registered households from Bishop John

Doerfler in early June. Helping to fulfill one of his primary obligations, to pray for

the people of the Diocese of Marquette, Bishop John Doerfler invites parishioners

to send personal prayer requests. Returned prayer cards are kept in his private

chapel, where he will pray for your intentions for the next year.