Growing up in Arlington

Under the watch of Bishop Loverde, the diocese has seen a significant increase in Catholics registered, ministries offered and parishes created.

In almost every Year in Review put together by the staff of the Catholic Herald during Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde’s 10-year tenure, diocesan “growth” has played a key role.

The highlights of that growth include the opening of new parishes as well as last fall’s first day of school at John the Paul Great Catholic High School in Dumfries.

Since 1999, the number of registered Catholics in the Arlington Diocese has increased from 336,123 to 413, 360; seven parishes have been created — St. Matthew in Spotsylvania, St. Veronica in Chantilly, Our Lady of Hope in Potomac Falls, Holy Trinity in Gainesville, St. Isidore the Farmer in Orange, St. Peter in Washington and St. Jude in Fredericksburg; and, according to the annual financial report, 46 parish and school expansion projects have been completed (and many are under way).

The bishop’s Rooted in Faith — Forward in Hope capital campaign, which ran from 2002-03, earned approximately $115 million in pledges to offset the financial burdens of the growing Church. The projects most recently completed include the opening of Holy Trinity Church, the expanded church at St. John the Evangelist in Warrenton and the parish center at St. Matthew, all in 2008.

Keeping pace with the growth of the last decade will be a challenge, Bishop Loverde said in a recent interview, especially due to the current state of the economy.

“The challenge is there to have new parishes and grow new ministries, but how soon we do it depends upon factors that are out of our hands,” he said. “The economic crisis may curb our expectations."

But other things have been keeping the bishop busy.

During the last decade, he founded the Office for Family Life’s Gabriel Project, a service for women in crisis pregnancies, as well as the Young Adult Ministry. He created the Office of Child Protection and Safety and a Victim’s Assistance program for victims of sexual abuse, and instituted regular healing Masses for victims, beginning in 2004.

Bishop Loverde helped develop the Virginia Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the states’ two dioceses, and, after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit in 2005, created Partners in New Hope, an office dedicated to helping parish-based relief efforts.

After an absence of 20 years, the bishop reinstated the permanent diaconate program, also in 2005, for which 18 men are studying currently.

The bishop expanded the diocese’s policy permitting girls to serve at the altar during Mass in 2006, and also permitted the celebration of the 1962 Latin Mass — currently celebrated at 11 parishes in the diocese. In addition, he placed Father Paul deLadurantaye, a member of the diocesan theological commission, in charge of vetting all speakers invited to talk to any diocesan group in order to make sure their message is in line with Church teaching.

Bishop Loverde created the Office of Multi-Cultural Ministries, and the Office of Youth Ministry and the Spanish Apostolate have both registered significant changes and growth.

Other projects Bishop Loverde has overseen include the recent opening of Catholic Charities’ family transitional housing, the development of a priests’ retirement home and a diocesan spirituality center, as well as the renovation of Catholic Charities’ Christ House.

“I don’t know where the 10 years have gone,” Bishop Loverde said at the recent retreat hosted by the Arlington Diocesan Council of Catholic Women. “This diocese is filled with faith. It is an absolute jewel. I hope that I have been faithful in preserving and increasing all the things that were done well before me.”