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2025 ANNUAL REPORT

Dear Friends in Christ,

The in-depth annual report for the 2024-2025 fiscal year in this edition of Mississippi Catholic is presented in images, graphs, and narrative in order to portray a thorough and clearcut overview of diocesan stewardship. This report reflects the Church’s commitment to the Gospel values of transparency and accountability, themes emphasized in the final document of the worldwide Synod on Synodality on Oct. 26, 2024.

“Decision making must be accompanied and followed by practices of accountability and evaluation undertaken in a spirit of transparency inspired by evangelical criteria. Accountability to the community for one’s ministry belongs to our oldest tradition: to the Apostolic Church itself.” (Acts 11)

“Characteristics such as truth, loyalty, clarity, integrity, honesty and more shed light upon the Gospel imperative of transparency in the synodal document. First and foremost, it’s a fundamental attitude that is grounded in the Sacred Scripture and not to a series of administrative or procedural requirements.”

Gratitude is in order when I review the entirety of this

report: to the faithful who generously support the work of the Lord though our diocesan mission and ministries; to the Office of Temporal Affairs, which faithfully stewards the financial resources of the diocese in service to our mission and ministries; to the chancery staff who collaborate at the highest level to serve the diocesan family in fiscally responsible ways; and to the clergy and parish leadership who work closely with chancery staff to build up the Body of Christ and to shine the light of the Gospel beyond church walls.

May the Holy Spirit, who empowered the Church at the outset and has guided and purified her for nearly 2,000 years continue to inspire us in our calling to be faithful stewards and ambassadors of God’s abundant love in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

+Joseph R. Kopacz Bishop of Jackson

A Letter from the Most Reverend

J oSepH R. K opacZ

Transitional Diaconate Ordination

Prayer Service for Migrant Communities

World Marriage Day 2025

Prayer time at Cathedral School

Father Frank Cosgrove 60th Anniversary

F INANCIAL R EPORT

c aRoLYn c aLLaHan – d IRectoR , d epaRtment of t empoRaL a ffaIRS

e full audit report for the Chancery o ce nances of the Diocese of Jackson is available online at https:// jacksondiocese.org/temporal-a airs.

These statements include the Current Fund and Deposit and Loan Fund of the Chancery office. The Current Fund covers services provided to parishes, schools, and missions by the Bishop’s administration, including offices such as the Bishop’s office, Vicar General, Chancellor, Archives, Communication, Education, Faith Formation, Liturgy, Seminarian Education and Vocations, Stewardship and Development, and Temporal Affairs.

The Deposit and Loan fund reflects the management of the savings of all parish and school locations and the related investment portfolio. This report excludes income and expenses for Catholic Charities and the Catholic Foundation.

The Chancery office is primarily funded by the annual Cathedraticum Assessment and the Catholic Service Appeal. Cathedraticum is currently 5% of the first $25,000 of parish income plus 10.5% of the balance of parish annual income, minus exemptions for approved capital campaigns, school subsidies, and parent payments for youth trips. This assessment funds the Bishop’s administration, priest retirement, health insurance, and seminarian education and benefits. We will soon announce a change to the Cathedraticum calculation, reflecting a slight decrease to accommodate the transfer of priest insurance costs to parish budgets.

Major expenses for the Bishop’s administration include personnel salaries, clergy benefits, and seminarian education. Other routine costs include workshops, travel, newspaper production, and grants for parishes and schools.

Since the February 2025 report, key financial devel-

opments for the Diocese and the Department of Temporal Affairs include:

• All diocesan properties were appraised by The Insurance Valuation Group (IVG), and these updated values will be used to calculate the July 1, 2026, renewal premium for property insurance from Catholic Mutual.

• Temporal Affairs contracted Gallagher Retirement Services to manage the frozen pension plan for Chancery and Catholic Charities employees working before July 1, 2014. This engagement includes actuarial services, and the unfunded liability as of June 30, 2025, is reflected in the financial statements and pie charts within this report. This frozen pension plan is separate from the 401(k) plan offered to all diocesan employees since July 1, 2014.

• Rising medical and prescription costs continue to drive substantial annual premium increases. Consequently, the diocese will soon engage a medical insurance consultant to maximize employee benefits while managing costs for parishes and schools.

• Temporal Affairs is excited to see the results of the feasibility study for the proposed Catholic Foundation Capital Campaign. The expected annual endowment distributions for Vocations will significantly assist in managing tuition, fees, and other related costs for seminarians.

• The diocese is partnering with the Mid-South Association of Independent Schools (MSAIS) to participate in the Education Freedom Tax Credit effective January 1, 2027. This program provides individuals with a $1,700 ($3,400 for married couples) dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit for donations to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGO).

MSAIS school representatives formed a board to establish an SGO named Advancing Independent Missions for Schools (AIMS). The AIMS bylaws mandate that one director must be affiliated with the Catholic Diocese of Jackson. This board representation provides the diocese with voting rights for policymaking and

ensures transparency in the reporting of donations, school distributions, and administrative expenses. This program offers substantial potential income for our Catholic schools, especially when considering the collective support of parents, grandparents, alumni, extended families, and all local and national advocates of Catholic education.

• While not without its challenges, our transition to Checkwriters for standardized diocesan payroll has proven effective, providing strong client support and overall accuracy.

• The investment portfolio of the Deposit and Loan Fund remains in a strong position with an allocation and 2025 calendar year return of: Equities 20.0% of plan assets / +16.81% net return; Fixed Income 71.2% of plan assets / +6.57% net return, and; Admin/Cash 8.8% of plan assets / +4.14% net return. The total fund net weighted return was +8.26%.

• The portfolio’s heavy weighting in highly rated fixed-income securities reflects its role as a repository for net savings from parishes and schools (total savings less outstanding loans). Currently, investment returns are reinvested to secure the cost basis of these account balances rather than being withdrawn to fund operations.

• The Diocesan Finance Council and its committees meet throughout the year, utilizing the expertise of their members to provide financial advice to Bishop Kopacz and oversight of Temporal Affairs. Council committees include the Budget, Audit, Investment, Revenue, Deposit and Loan Rates, Pension Plan, Medical Benefits, and Cathedraticum committees.

• Temporal Affairs maintains a strong relationship with its external audit firm, and the 2025 audit report was again received without exceptions.

Questions regarding Diocesan ﬁnances may be sent to Carolyn Callahan, Director, Department of Temporal A airs via email at carolyn.callahan@ jacksondiocese.org.

Middle School “All Heart” Retreat

Vicksburg Catholic School

Fall Faith Formation Day 2025

Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman Statue

2025 S tatement S of I ncome

income – FYE 06/30/2025

The Diocese of Jackson has launched a third-party reporting system that will enable all diocesan employees, volunteers and parishioners to anonymously (or named if preferred) make reports. Examples of this activity include fraud, misconduct, safety violations, harassment or substance abuse occurring at a Catholic parish, Catholic school or at the diocesan level. The system is operated by Lighthouse Services.

To make a report visit www.lighthouse-services. com/jacksondiocese or call 888-830-0004 (English) or 800-216-1288 (Spanish).