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$15 million to fund the Seminarian Education Endowment
The Archdiocese of Dubuque pays for most of the expenses associated with education of our seminarians (Loras College generously covers tuition for seminarians there).
By entering the seminary, a man indicates his openness to giving up his whole life in service as a priest in the Archdiocese of Dubuque; that is no small thing.
It is therefore right and just for us to pay for their education; if seminarians had to bear the cost themselves, that might deter them from going to the seminary.
Our current funding sources include occasional gifts from donors, surplus from the archdiocesan operations budget, and investment income from the Seminarian Education Endowment.
However, the expenses are growing faster than the funding sources, due in part to the number of seminarians (more is better!), and an increase of education costs.
So, it’s necessary to add to the Seminarian Education Endowment. It isn’t prudent to hope for occasional gifts or a budget surplus; a stable funding source is needed.
We need more seminarians to ensure that we will have priests in the future, so that we can practice our Catholic Faith fully.
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The Seminarian Education Endowment Fund balance, as of July 1, 2019 is just over $5 million. The endowment provides a 4% annual distribution. This distribution falls consistently short of meeting our seminarian expenses, which has at times topped $700,000. The difference has been supplemented by occasional gifts/bequests, however the bulk comes from the archdiocesan operating budget. To provide consistent funding, we are seeking $15 million which will allow the endowment to meet our anticipated annual seminarian expenses.
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