8 Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst Year in Review 2020 Business Manager’s Report 2020 saw the completion of significant projects: • The review of the strategic, consultative and administrative structures of the Diocese, which took into account the observations and suggestions of targeted and invested clergy, pastoral associates, board members and leaders of the Diocese, and built on the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and the recommendations of the Light from the Southern Cross report. • The creation of two new incorporated entities, Catholic Education Sandhurst Ltd to oversee the governance of Catholic schools in the Diocese, and Sandhurst Early Childhood Education and Care Ltd, to oversee the provision of pre-school education and care to meet an identified growing demand. • The merger of CatholicCare Sandhurst into a new state-wide entity, CatholicCare Victoria. Throughout 2020 people in our parishes continued to participate in Plenary Council forums and sessions, supported by the Sandhurst Plenary Committee, diocesan Adult Faith Education and Sandhurst Youth Ministry. 2020 was a year dominated by change and new work activity. During government COVID-19 restrictions, we overcame new challenges; finding ways to work from home; keeping in touch and continuing to pray and worship. Our priests, parish secretaries and chancery team worked tirelessly to keep us connected, establish COVID-safe plans, and ensure the financial viability of parishes throughout lockdown. Parish secretaries met online to share their newfound hightech methods for parishioners to make a booking for Mass; to implement the state required use of QR codes and low-tech solutions, such as checking in with parishioners by phone; while the Chancery Finance department navigated the maze of JobKeeper documentation. The challenges of lockdown did not hinder the progress of diocesan projects. The good works of the Diocesan Development Fund continued with strong loan growth to undertake capital works. Loans totalling $9.3m were approved during the calendar year. We have been assisting parishes to purchase new land for school expansion in growth areas such as Echuca and Huntly and have looked to consolidate land which is under-utilised or could be repurposed to meet community need. For example, social housing in Mooroopna or a residential land subdivision in Numurkah. At Sacred Heart Cathedral, important upgrade works were completed on the fire detection systems, roof and guttering repairs and a new LED light installed at the top of the spire. Those fortunate to scale the 86 metres to the top of the spire wonder if there could be a way to make access safe and accessible for all, as it would be a tremendous attraction. We anticipate that the Sandhurst Crest subdivision will benefit from the Victorian lockdown as there is now growing recognition of the great lifestyle regional Victoria affords, driven by new acceptance of working remotely and government initiatives to support migration to the regions during the pandemic. We expect that all lots of the final subdivision of Sandhurst Crest will be sold in the first half of 2021. Throughout the year there has been continued interest in the Diocesan Archives from those seeking to contribute material and those seeking to draw on the collection. The research phase of the Faith of the Goldfields linkage grant, in partnership with the Aspire Foundation, City of Greater Bendigo and La Trobe University, was completed in 2020 and will conclude in 2021. It will provide an interesting window into the early days of the Diocese and people of the 1850s. Reflecting on the past year, in which we were humbled by circumstances beyond our control, yet forged a strong foundation for the future of the Diocese, I am reminded of the Romero Prayer*, and I quote an excerpt here: I am quietly confident that in years to come, historians will deem 2020 a pivotal year for the activation of global civil society and the Catholic Church in Australia. 2020 was an extraordinary year for us, at first glance characterised by the global pandemic, the bushfire crisis, and the Black Lives Matter movement. In the Diocese of Sandhurst, we worked hard towards fundamental shifts in the way we manage, govern and care for people in our parish, school and work communities. In that sense, 2020 was a watershed year in which we laid a strong foundation for the future mission of the Diocese. “I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their hard work and support of each other during a year of challenge and change. I am enormously proud of the people of our Diocese.” REPORTS
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