CV NEWS FEED // The U.S. bishops are encouraging the faithful to support the Catholic Home Missions Appeal, which helps fund more than 70 home mission dioceses that support rural and impoverished Catholic communities throughout the U.S.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)’s website reported April 7 that 35% of U.S. Catholic dioceses are home mission dioceses. This year, $81 million in grants is going to support the essential pastoral services of these dioceses.
The Catholic Home Missions Appeal will take place in most dioceses from April 26-27.
“Right here in the United States, we have dioceses that need help providing pastoral care,” said Bishop Chad W. Zielinski, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions. “Whether it is assistance to Chaldean Catholic refugees, supporting the ministry of catechists in rural dioceses, offering help to pregnant women in need, or guiding victims of domestic violence to proper counseling and support, the support offered to home mission dioceses epitomizes the love of Christ.”
In his former duties as a military chaplain in Iraq, Bishop Zielinski encountered many persecuted Chaldean Catholics who later fled to the United States. The Chaldean Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle in Michigan, supported by Catholic Home Missions, supports many of these refugees.
The eparchy only has 23 priests for 30 states and 189,000 parishioners. It offers a radio ministry in Syrian Aramaic, Arabic, and English and a special marriage preparation program that includes counseling for couples healing from the trauma of war.
Catholic Home Missions also supports places like the Diocese of Baker, Oregon, which has less than 31,000 Catholics in an area as large as Florida. In small dioceses like this, the USCCB explained, it is vitally important to support youth ministries. Catholic Home Missions Appeal helps send teenagers in these areas on retreats, mission trips, and discipleship training.
In the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia, another small diocese, the Catholic Home Missions appeal made it possible for 12 teenagers and young adults to attend World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal.
“They returned on fire for the Lord, becoming leaders of Catholic ministry in their parishes and on college campuses,” Bishop Zielinski said. “Catholics in home mission dioceses are profoundly grateful for the assistance that other Catholics offer. Whatever our difficulties, most of us are blessed with the means to share with sisters and brothers whose need is greater than our own.”
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