2022 Annual Report
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St. Ignatius Martyr Catholic Church is an active parish through liturgy, education, and service. In the tradition of the Congregation of Holy Cross, we make God known, loved, and served by our prayers and actions.
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Fall 2022
Dear St. Ignatius Family,
After all that we have collectively weathered as a parish and a nation over the last year, it is
worthwhile to pause and reflect on the many ways in which God was—and is—present with
us, faithfully at work in our lives as individuals, families, and a parish community.
To begin, I am tremendously grateful to report that, thanks to your continued financial
support, St. Ignatius is on sound financial footing. In these times that have been so
economically challenging to so many, I am deeply thankful to all who give so generously of
their resources to the parish. Please reach out to me or to Kevin Harrington, our Business
Manager, with any questions you may have about the financial information in this report.
We remain committed to being good and transparent stewards of all we receive.
And here, at St. Ignatius, we do receive in abundance! God’s blessings to our parish have
been many. From that embarrassment of riches, I’d like to highlight just a few from the past
year:
Our campus
Let there be light! Our beautiful, new stained-glass windows have been installed and are
already enriching our sanctuary space and our worship (and my preaching!). Bishop Joe
Vásquez will be with us on October 17, the feast of St. Ignatius Martyr, to officially bless the
windows. Please make plans to attend this special liturgy.
Our people
Another sign of a vibrant parish are its people and, over the last year, we welcomed many
folks to St. Ignatius—new staff members and teachers, the newly baptized, ordained,
and initiated, new students, parishioners, and religious in formation. A few key personnel
updates included Principal JB Watters completing his first year at our school and bringing
on-board five new teachers; Deacon Mark Bennett coming on-staff as our new Facilities
Manager; Richard Tucker’s ordination to the Permanent Diaconate and his wife, Cindy,
heading our nullity ministry; and Isaac Garcia stepping into an expanded role as the “link”
between all of our faith formation programs. We also welcomed Fr. Pete Logsdon back
“home” to the parish, hosted several seminarians and novices, and will have Deacon John
Sebastian Gutierrez, CSC, with us for his transitional diaconate year (and, we hope, for his
first years as a Holy Cross priest).
Our prayer & spiritual life
Prayer and spiritual life in the tradition of Holy Cross are defining elements of our parish
and a great source of encouragement and inspiration for me and, I trust, for all of you. The
Congregation of Holy Cross is very fortunate to have such a vibrant and active parish under
its care. In addition to being one of the few parishes in Austin to offer two daily Masses,
we also introduced, over the last year, several new prayer and worship offerings—including
Mondays with the Mystics, Eucharistic Adoration, and sung Vespers—with more on the
way, so stay tuned.
All told, it was another busy and fruitful year. With God’s grace, may the year ahead yield
an even more abundant harvest. Together, let us continue to be men and women bringing
Gospel hope to a world so much in need.
God’s blessings,
Fr. John Dougherty, C.S.C.
Pastor