.- “Support
the Mission Church Here in America” is the theme for this year’s
national Catholic Home Missions Appeal, sponsored by the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops. It is scheduled for the weekend of
April 29-30.
Most Catholics
in the U.S. live in urban centers where the local parish is only a few
blocks away and the congregation numbers in the hundreds or even in the
thousands.
But there are
areas where the Church community is poor and destitute and where
resources are very slim. The Diocese of Fargo, for example, recently
announced a plan to close about 30 of its 160 parishes. In the Wyoming,
Montana and Idaho, there is a total of only seven Catholic high
schools. In Alaska, remote parishes might see a priest only once a
month. Finally, there are also the traditional mission areas of
Appalachia and the Deep South, where there is usually only one Catholic
parish, with 20 or 25 families, in each county. There are many places
in America where being Catholic is not so easy.
In a letter,
Bishop J. Peter Sartain of Little Rock, chairman of the Committee on
Home Missions, urged all U.S. bishops to give particular attention to
the collection this year and to ask their pastors to personally explain
its purpose of “sharing the wealth” to their parishioners.
The bishop said
the 2005 CHMA will yield $9.4 million, a 12 percent increase over 2004.
But, at a recent allocations meeting, the committee was faced with the
difficult decision to reduce its maximum grant to the neediest U.S.
dioceses from $175,000 to $150,000, and to reduce the amount of support
given to other Home Mission dioceses.
Among the reasons for this decision was the $3 million given to the five dioceses walloped by the hurricanes.
The Bishops’
Committee on the Home Missions was founded as the American Board of
Catholic Missions in 1924. In cooperation with the Black and Indian
Missions Board (1885) and the Catholic Church Extension Society (1905),
the Committee provides financial support for missionary activities that
strengthen and extend the presence of the Church in the United States,
in its island territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
Catholic Home Missions Appeal to focus on rural, impoverished U.S. dioceses
Related news
Related articles
* The number of messages that can be online is limited. CNA reserves the right to edit messages for content and tone. Comments and opinions expressed by users do not necessarily reflect the opinions or beliefs of CNA. CNA will not publish comments with abusive language, insults or links to other pages
Featured Videos
May
19
Catholic Daily
Gospel of the Day
John 20,19-23
Gospel
Date
05/19/13
05/18/13
05/17/13
Daily Readings
First Reading:: Acts 2:1-11Second Reading:: 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13Gospel:: Jn 20:19-23Homily of the Day
John 20,19-23
Homily
Date
05/19/13
05/18/13
05/17/13
Most Popular
Ads by AdsLiveMedia.com
