By OSV News
The president of the U.S. bishops’ conference called for a special collection to bolster the Catholic Church’s response to a deepening humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip as the Israel-Hamas war continues to grind on.
In a letter to his brother bishops, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged them to hold a “special collection to provide humanitarian relief and pastoral support for our affected brothers and sisters in Gaza and surrounding areas in the Middle East” through both Catholic Near East Welfare Association and Catholic Relief Services, the overseas humanitarian relief agency of the Catholic Church in the U.S.
Excerpts of the letter, dated Aug. 12 according to CNEWA, were released by both CNEWA and the USCCB Aug. 20.
“It is with great pastoral concern for the ongoing crisis in Gaza that I write to you today,” the archbishop, who also heads the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, said in his letter. “Our Church mourns the terrible suffering of Christians and other innocent victims of violence in Gaza and surrounding areas who are struggling to survive, protect their children, and live with dignity in dire conditions.”
In July, organizations including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the U.N. World Food Program, and UNICEF warned that a hunger crisis was deepening in the devastated area, exceeding famine thresholds, with more than one in three people going days at a time without eating.
Archbishop Broglio noted Pope Leo XIV “continues to call for a ceasefire and for aid to enter the territory, noting with great sorrow that ‘Gaza is starving.'”
He said both CNEWA and CRS have well-established partnerships in the region that allow the Catholic Church to deliver aid quickly and efficiently to the Gaza Strip.
“The situation in Gaza and across the Middle East cries out for assistance of the Catholic community of the United States,” Archbishop Broglio wrote. “I ask that you take up this collection and send funds to CNEWA and CRS as soon as possible.”
St. Cloud Bishop Patrick Neary, CSC, asked pastors to take up a special collection the weekend of Aug. 23-24.
“Our Church mourns the terrible suffering of so many innocent victims of violence: children and adults who are struggling to find adequate food and shelter and live with dignity in dire conditions,” he said.
“The people of our diocese always respond with generosity when needs are great. To show our solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are suffering, I ask that every parish/ACC in the diocese take up a special collection on the weekend of August 23-24,” he said.
The proceeds will be split evenly between Catholic Relief Services and the Catholic Near East Welfare Association. Both agencies are providing vital emergency services to those in need.
Funds should be sent by September 5 to the St. Cloud Mission Office (11 8th Ave S., St. Cloud, MN 56301), which will facilitate distribution of the proceeds to both CRS and CNEWA. Make checks payable to the St. Cloud Mission Office and mark them “Gaza Relief.”
Last month, a special collection in the Diocese of St. Cloud for Texas flood victims raised a total of $136,484. The funds were sent to Catholic Charities USA, which has been assisting with relief and recovery efforts.
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Local comments were added by The Central Minnesota Catholic.
Above photo: A Catholic Relief Services worker is pictured at a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip May 5, 2025. Jennifer Poidatz, acting representative for CRS in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, told OSV News July 31 that Gaza-based CRS staff are working to bring high-calorie, high-protein food to residents amid destroyed agricultural lands, fuel and energy deficits, high prices, danger and disease. (OSV News photo/CRS Staff)