WASHINGTON (OSV News) — An annual collection in support of missionary efforts within the United States, called the Catholic Home Missions Appeal, will be taken up at parishes around the country on April 29-30, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced March 31.
The funds support dioceses in the U.S. that have territories where it is difficult to carry out “basic, essential ministries” — such as the celebration of Mass and other sacraments, religious education, and ministry training for clergy and lay people — because of geographic, economic or population-related challenges, the USCCB’s March 31 news release said.
“When you give to the Catholic Home Missions Appeal, you are making a difference in the lives of our brothers and sisters right here in the United States,” said Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City, Missouri, and chairman of the USCCB’s Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions, according to the news release.
The USCCB explained the Catholic Home Missions Appeal in 2022 provided more than $8 million in funds to nearly 80 dioceses and eparchies. In a 2022 guest commentary written for Catholic News Service, Bishop McKnight shared how a three-week faith formation camp for young people sponsored by the Catholic Home Missions Appeal in the Diocese of Gallup, New Mexico, reengaged the youth — and their families — with their Catholic faith.
“Those young people experienced such joy in their faith that many of them brought their parents back to church,” he wrote.
In addition to bringing the sacraments, programs supported by the appeal last year also offered pastoral and social care for refugees, health care and counseling to people in poverty, and education and evangelization efforts for people in need.
Funds also support the formation of priests, deacons, religious and lay leaders, marriage and family ministry, cross-cultural outreach, church communications and pastoral planning.
“In Alaska, courageous missionary priests from as far away as Nigeria travel through ice and snow by seaplane and snowmobile to serve remote churches scarcely larger than mobile homes,” Bishop McKnight said in the news release. “God does not measure the vitality of our faith by the quality of our stained glass or the height of the arches in the naves of our churches. When he sees the faithful traveling large distances during extreme weather conditions to worship and receive the sacraments in a small, simple chapel, God sees a treasure greater than gold.”
While most dioceses will participate in the Catholic Home Missions Appeal collection at the end of April, others participate on a different date. Catholics can also donate to these efforts via the #IGiveCatholicTogether initiative at usccb.igivecatholictogether.org.
NOTES: The Catholic Home Missions Appeal at #IGiveCatholicTogether can be found online at https://usccb.igivecatholictogether.org/organizations/usccb-catholic-home-missions