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.
January 2025
Dear St. Ignatius Family,
2024 marked the beginning of a new era for our neighborhood with the grand opening of a flagship H-E-B right across the street. The year also saw a number of exciting developments for our parish community, summarized below and in this report.
Our Campus
H-E-B wasn’t the only construction project around campus—work began on the rectory addition and, in November, a beautiful new roof was installed on our main church building. We also acquired a new piece of property when, after many decades of faithful service to our parish and school, the Sisters of Holy Cross returned to South Bend. With assistance from the Diocese, we purchased the sisters’ former property, which adjoins our campus, and began developing plans for its use. Finally, the permitting process for Holy Family Hall is inching along. Please continue to pray for approval on this long-delayed (and much-needed) project.
Our People
In addition to hosting seminarians and brothers, we have been blessed to have six Holy Cross religious call St. Ignatius home this year: our senior priests, Fr. James, CSC, and Fr. Pete, CSC; our two parochial vicars, Fr. JS, CSC, and Fr. Steve, CSC; and our seminarian, Alex White, CSC. On the lay staff side, we welcomed Barb Frantz as the Director of Community Life and Discipleship, Christoph Hintermüller as Directory of Worship & Sacred Music, and Roxann Pishnick as the full-time Recording Registrar.
Our School
St. Ignatius Catholic School educates students in the Holy Cross tradition and is a place of great joy and happiness. Our Director of Admissions, Diana Galvan, has made tremendous strides in increasing our enrollment. While we still have work to do to increase our numbers, I am confident that we will soon be full with a waiting list! Please consider our school for your children and invite your friends and family to take a look as well.
Our prayer & sacramental life
Prayer and sacramental life are at the center of who we are as a parish and as a Holy Cross ministry. In addition to beautiful liturgies and many opportunities for communal prayer and worship, we accompany hundreds of individuals and families (see pg 2) in their spiritual growth through participation in the sacramental life of the Church. Be sure to attend Mass regularly and avail yourself of the gift of God’s grace in the central sacrament for us as Catholics, the Eucharist.
Finances
All of the above would not be possible without your generosity. We continue to pay our bills and expand our ministries thanks to your faithful contributions. We met our 2024 Catholic Services Appeal goal earlier than ever and we were able to pay for our new roof from our normal operations budget. As our parish continues to grow, I am certain we will be able to fund that growth because of your financial support —thank you!
Looking ahead
The future is very bright for our parish—our warm hospitality invites visitors to come back and make St. Ignatius their spiritual home.
Remember: we Holy Cross religious are here to serve you and with you. Together, we can do so much for the Church! May God continue to bless our efforts to make Him known, loved, and served in our little part of Austin.
Fr. John J Dougherty, CSC
Pastor