Programs of Pastoral Support and Solidarity Possible Through Parishioner Generosity

During their recently-concluded committee and subcommittee meetings in Baltimore, programs of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) awarded over $10 million given by supporters to its national collections to support pastoral and social ministries in the United States and in three regions overseas where the Church is desperately poor, persecuted or too small to support its own work.

WASHINGTON - During their recently-concluded committee and subcommittee meetings in Baltimore, programs of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) awarded over $10 million given by supporters to its national collections to support pastoral and social ministries in the United States and in three regions overseas where the Church is desperately poor, persecuted or too small to support its own work.

“The generous contributions that Catholics put into the basket for these collections change lives and bring people closer to Jesus,” said Bishop James S. Wall of Gallup, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on National Collections. “On behalf of each person and parish community that will benefit from these grants, I thank the Catholics of the United States for their generosity. Millions of people here in the United States as well as in Latin America, Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe will experience God’s love through these gifts.”

Grants were made in these program areas:

Catholic Home Missions: The Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions awarded a total of 15 grants in the amount of over $1.2 million. Among the diocesan grants, more than $100,000 from will help to build a strong vocations outreach in the Diocese of Las Cruces, one of the poorest in the nation, which has just 54 active priests for its 86 parishes and missions. Additionally, special grants totaling $995,825 will help mission dioceses participate in national efforts such as the U.S. bishops’ Eucharistic Revival and National Eucharistic Congress, the Synodal journey, as well as support their ministries to migrants and ethnic minorities, such as Asian and Pacific Islanders. These special grants also include $126,000 in sponsorships for professional development programs for church staff such as financial managers, diocesan vocations and pro-life directors, and leaders in safe environment and disaster preparedness. These grants supplement the $7.2 million in funding to 72 dioceses that were awarded by the subcommittee at its annual allocations meeting, which took place in October in New Ulm, Minnesota.
Church in Africa: The Subcommittee on the Church in Africa voted to approve 32 grants totaling $916,400 to 18 different episcopal conferences and regional associations of episcopal conferences across the continent. Among them, the Episcopal Conference of Malawi will receive $30,000 for a national project across all eight of its dioceses to educate and train young people to recognize the dignity of the elderly and to end the increasingly common problem of elder abuse.
Church in Central and Eastern Europe: Among the 133 grants totaling nearly $3.6 million awarded by the Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe was one to the Diocese of Timisoara in Romania for $35,520 to send youth choir members on retreats that will help them grow in faith, to offer Catholic summer camps for children and young teens, and to provide pastoral care for families. Faced with the ongoing need of war victims in Ukraine, the Subcommittee granted $35,000 to Caritas Ukraine to provide psychological and spiritual support to its employees, who are themselves suffering trauma and distress as they work to serve and comfort their neighbors.
Church in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America awarded 125 grants totaling nearly $3.2 million to support ministries throughout Central and South America and the Caribbean islands, including a $50,000 grant to help the Archdiocese of Quito with next year’s International Eucharistic Congress, at which 1 million people are expected to participate in a Mass that Pope Francis will celebrate in honor of the 150th anniversary of Ecuador’s consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Emergency Disaster Relief: The Committee on National Collections granted more than $1 million from the Bishops Emergency Disaster Fund – with an additional $453,000 from the Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions – to help churches in Puerto Rico with continuing recovery from hurricanes and earthquakes. The disaster fund provides pastoral support for people affected by regional calamities and will also support hundreds of churches for the costs of repair and rebuilding that are not covered by federal programs.