Last week, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced that its leaders are restructuring operations at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center.
The main component is the formation of a group that will be known as the “senior directors.” The new pastoral administrative structure “will enable us to better serve the parishes and Catholic people of Los Angeles,” said Msgr. Joseph V. Brennan, vicar general and moderator of the Curia.
The new structure will promote more unity and collaboration, he said. The following nine senior directors will report to Msgr. Brennan:
Sister Mary Elizabeth Galt, Director of Pastoral Services
Msgr. Joseph Hernandez, Director of Ministerial Services
Randy Steiner, Chief Financial Officer
David Scott, Vice Chancellor of Communications
Father Truc Nguyen, Judicial Vicar
Dr. Kevin Baxter, Superintendent/Director of Catholic Schools
Dan Coonan, Executive Director of Development
Margaret Graf, General Counsel
Annabelle Baltierra, Director of Human Resources
“Pastoral effectiveness is a response to the Gospel call to serve, not to be served,” Msgr. Brennan said. “We are called to proclaim Jesus Christ to the people of today.”
Sister Mary Elizabeth, Msgr. Hernandez, Steiner, Scott and Msgr. Brennan, the group that formerly made up the archdiocesan leadership team, will now form the senior advisory group. They will continue to serve as advisors to Archbishop José H. Gomez.
The archbishop called for the restructuring to better reflect his inaugural pastoral letter, “Witness to the New World of Faith.” In that letter, issued Oct. 10, 2012, the archbishop called for a more mission-centered approach to meet the pastoral challenges of the new evangelization.
The priorities, which grew out of a 2003 Archdiocesan Synod, include:
> Educating and forming Catholics for deeper knowledge and more intense and prayerful living of their Catholic faith.
> Inspiring Catholics to hear God’s calling to the priesthood and to religious and consecrated life.
> Promoting the cultural diversity and universal identity of the Catholic Church.
> Proclaiming the Gospel of Life and building a Culture of Life.
> Promoting marriage and the family as sacred institutions and the heart of a civilization of love.
These priorities are reflected in the vehicles of service, stewardship, communication and excellence.
Hand & Associates, an international management consulting firm based in Los Angeles, conducted a yearlong comprehensive organizational review of the archdiocesan operations. The restructuring follows their assessment.
