Defining Moment

With the endorsement of Archbishop Pilarczyk, Sacred Heart Radio is founded to bring online Catholic content to the public 24/7. Two shows, The Son Rise Morning Show and Driving Home the Faith, are produced locally. Sacred Heart Radio currently operates three local radio stations, reaching from Covington, Kentucky, to Dayton, Ohio.

Archbishop Pilarczyk establishes The Futures Project to discuss and make plans for the future of the local Church in light of declining priest numbers. Among the accepted recommendations is the creation of pastoral regions.

Su Casa Hispanic Center is founded as a program of Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio. It is the primary provider of social, case management, family reunification, educational, and health promotion services to the Hispanic/Latino community in Greater Cincinnati. The Su Casa Hispanic Center is committed to serving, enlightening and empowering the poor and the vulnerable of the immigrant community who come to the US looking for a better way of life for themselves and their families.

The archdiocese publishes the Decree on Child Protection, establishing policies and procedures to prevent abuse of minors by the clergy, lay employees and volunteers. In 2003, Archbishop Pilarczyk pleaded “no contest” for failure to report cases of abuse. At that time, the archdiocese established a fund to compensate sexual abuse victims.

On September 6, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla visits Archbishop Bernardin, then the head of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Cardinal Wojtyla stays overnight at the cathedral and celebrates Mass there. (Two years later Cardinal Wojtyla is elected pope and takes the name John Paul II.)

In the fall, the archdiocese launched the Lay Pastoral Ministry program. This program was designed to educate lay Catholics to be pastoral ministers in the Church. A branch of the Athenaeum of Ohio, it is now called Lay Ecclesial Ministry Formation.