2023 DDD meets quota; 2024 campaign begins

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SALT LAKE CITY — As the community of faith in Utah celebrates having reached the quota for the 2023 Diocesan Development Drive, Bishop Oscar A. Solis and Shannon Lee, director of the Office of Stewardship and Development, thanked everyone who contributed.

The annual Diocesan Development Drive provides the majority of funding for the diocese’s programs, ministries and services.

In a video message, Bishop Solis offered his gratitude to all who donated to the 2023 DDD. “Your generosity is a true blessing for our diocese and I sincerely appreciate it,” he said, noting that thanks to such contributions, one of the diocesan seminarians will be ordained to the priesthood in June.

Reaching the goal translates into the diocese being able “to fund the over 30 ministries, programs and services of the diocese, and that’s important because of all the different ministries that we have,” Lee said.

These include funding seminarian education, the diaconate formation program, and “all the programs and ministries that are all very fundamental to the overall mission of the Catholic Church throughout Utah,” she added.

With the generosity of all those who contributed to the 2023 DDD, this was the second year in a row that the diocese was able to reach the quota set by Bishop Solis, she said.

As the 2023 DDD ended, the 2024 drive got under way. During the second weekend of February, this year’s campaign was launched, with the theme “Eucharist: the Heart of Giving,” inspired by Luke 22:19.

“I invite all of you to reflect on this year’s theme,” Bishop Solis said in the video. He urged everyone to “examine your heart as you consider your gift to the 2024 Diocesan Development Drive. Our gifts together will help fund the life of the Catholic Church throughout Utah.”

This year, donors have the opportunity to honor a loved one when they give a gift to the DDD, Lee said. This can be done by filling in the “in honor of” or the “in memory of” space on either the printed or online donation form.

“This is appropriate especially due to this year’s theme,” Lee said, adding that people who donate online will have their commemorative gift listed under the section “forever in our heart.”

Such donations “are about the heart and how we loved these people,” she said.

Participating in the DDD is a response to the baptism call as well; the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “the faithful also have the duty of providing for the material needs of the Church, each according to his abilities,” (CCC2043) Lee pointed out. “So, here we are talking about the Catholic Church throughout Utah. We need to understand that this is an important part of being Catholic.”

Bishop Solis asked the faithful of the diocese to join him supporting this year’s DDD appeal. “Thank you, and may God bless and protect you and your families always,” he said in the video.

For information about the 2024 Diocesan Development Drive or to make a donation, visit https://www.dioslc.org/ddd.