In 1852, Old Saint Mary’s Parish met the needs of its expanding congregation by founding a Boys School.
Now, you may have a unique opportunity to help the Oratory continue that mission at no cost to yourself.
By recruiting others to donate to the school for boys formation fund, you can help support a great cause and be incentivized for doing so!
The state of Ohio has a tax credit in place for Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs), which are non-profits who help eligible students attend a qualified private school. The Oratory School for Boys has recently become a participating school in a non-profit organization called OCEN, which qualifies as an SGO. This means that your donation towards the Oratory School for Boys through OCEN allows you to receive a dollar-for-dollar reduction in your state taxes – up to $750 per individual taxpayer and $1,500 for married couples filing jointly.
Friends of the Oratory who wish to help us realize the goal of starting a school now have a cost-free way to make a significant contribution to the vision.
Here’s how it works:
Your donation can be claimed when you file your Ohio taxes. Gifts made through April 15th can be retroactively applied to the previous year’s taxes. The credit is a dollar-to-dollar reduction in your state tax liability up to $750 per taxpayer. A married couple filing jointly can claim a credit of up to $1500. To receive the full tax credit, you must have an Ohio tax liability equal to or greater than the amount of the credit.
Note: it is required to include this receipt along with your forms when filing taxes to receive the Ohio tax credit.
While there is no donation deadline, as OCEN accepts donations year-round, in order to claim the credit on your 2024 tax filing it is necessary to donate before you file your taxes.
Anyone whose taxable income is over $40,636 owes a minimum of $750.00 in state tax. A $750 donation to an SGO would reduce this amount to $0.00. That means $750 of tax money to a scholarship to help a student receive a quality Christian education and $0.00 remains for the state. You can use the chart below from Ohio Department of Taxation to determine your tax liability if you know your Ohio Taxable Income amount.
You can use the chart below from Ohio Department of Taxation to determine your tax liability if you know your Ohio Taxable Income amount.
Taxable state income can be found on page 2 of your state income tax return (Ohio IT 1040) line 13. A review of last year’s tax payments will help determine your maximum gift amount.
For taxable years beginning in 2024:
Ohio Taxable Income | Tax Calculation |
$0-$26,050 | 0.000% |
$26,051 – $100,000 | $360.69 + 2.75% of excess over $26,050 |
$100,000+ | $2,394.32 + 3.50% of excess over $100,000 |
Couples with combined salaries over $67,636 should qualify for $1500 in tax liability.
Individuals with salaries over $40,363 should qualify for $750 in tax liability.
Source: https://ohiocen.org/ocen-sgo/
The Oratory School for Boys is one of the many schools in coalition with the Ohio Christian Education Network. While the coalition is made up of dozens of Catholic and Evangelical Schools, the money you donate will be set aside for the Cincinnati Oratory Boys’ School specifically.
If the vision of the Oratory School for Boys is not realized, your donation will eventually be assigned to another Catholic school that is part of the Ohio Christian Education Network.
The history of St. Mary’s boys school can nearly be traced back to the very roots of Cincinnati itself. In February of 1808 a faithful Catholic layman, Jacob Dittoe, petitioned Bishop Carroll of Baltimore via letter to send priests to their little Ohio settlement of Catholic families. Hardly being able to refuse so devout a request, Bishop Carroll sent Father Edward Fenwick, O.P. to serve the spiritual needs of this little flock. Fenwick, later titled the ‘Apostle of Ohio’, would go on to become the first Bishop of Cincinnati.
As Cincinnati continued to grow and with it the amount of Catholic faithful, Holy Trinity Church was erected in 1834 on Fifth Street in West End, and shortly after a school for boys in 1839. These two apostolates would serve as the forerunners of St. Mary’s Church, which would go on to be dedicated in July of 1842. At this time, Bishop John Baptist Purcell had succeeded Bishop Fenwick. In the founding year of St. Mary’s Parish, 1840, Bishop John Baptist Purcell appointed Father Clemens Hammer as her first pastor.
In 1852, St. Mary’s School for Boys, which had grown out of the original school affiliated with Holy Trinity Church, was accepted by the Society of Mary. Brother Maximin Zehler, a native Frenchman and one of the original Marianists sent to America from Europe, became the first Director of St. Mary’s School in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The school continued to be run by the Society of Mary until 1939, when the Brothers left St. Mary School and the students were transferred to a school run by the Sisters of Notre Dame.
It is here that the Oratory School for Boys hopes to continue the legacy. Having been under the tutelage of the Oratorians of St. Philip Neri since 2017, but in no wise renouncing the history of Old St. Mary’s Church, the Oratorians hope to revive the school for boys in order to form the young men of Cincinnati into future saints.
Father Edward Fenwick arrives in Ohio.
Father Fenwick is consecrated first Bishop of Cincinnati on Sunday, January 13, 1822.
Bishop John Baptist Purcell succeeds Bishop Fenwick.
Fr. Clemens Hammer appointed founding pastor of Saint Mary Parish.
Saint Mary Church is dedicated to God on July the 3rd, 1842 under the title of the Annunciation.
St. Mary’s School for Boys is started with Brother Maximin Zehler assigned as director.
The Brothers close the school, but the buildings remain, carrying the names “Boys School” and “Brothers House.”
The Cincinnati Oratory is formed and begins serving Old St. Mary’s Church with hopes to continue legacy of the school for boys.
While living in Rome, St. Philip Neri longed to become a missionary to the Indies. St. Philip consulted a holy monk, and after days of prayer and discernment the monk told the saint: ‘Rome is your Indies’.
The Indies of the Cincinnati Oratory, the City of Cincinnati, also contains a large spiritual crop ready for harvest. Will you help the Cincinnati Oratory continue its mission there?