Catholic Home Missions Appeal Director Receives Father Mader Award for His Support of Missionary Work

WASHINGTON (November 2, 2010) — David Suley, director of the Catholic Home Missions Appeal at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been awarded the “Father George Mader Award” for his support of mission work. The Catholic Volunteer Network presented him with the award October 29, at the 2010 Mission Congress in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

David Suley holds a doctorate in ministry (with a focus on spirituality and justice) from an ecumenical program at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, and a master of theology degree and a master of divinity degree from St. Patrick's Seminary, Menlo Park, California. He has served as a lay missionary in Malawi, Central Africa, and is a member of the U.S. Catholic Mission Association. He was recently elected to their board of directors.

From 1982 to 1987, Suley served as the executive director for the International Liaison of Lay Volunteers in Mission (now Catholic Volunteer Network). From 1987-2000, he was director of the Church Relations department at Bread for the World. For the past decade, Suley has worked at the USCCB, seven years in the Secretariat for Home Missions and for the last three years he has been associate director in the Office of National Collections and director of the Catholic Home Missions Appeal.

Through this annual appeal, the USCCB Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions helps Catholic dioceses in the U.S. and its territories that cannot provide basic pastoral services to their people without outside help. This assistance is essential to scattered and isolated churches in the Appalachian Mountains, along the Mexican border, in the Deep South, in the Rocky Mountain States, and on islands in the Caribbean and the Pacific. Donations to the Catholic Home Missions Appeal support a wide range of pastoral activities, with special emphasis on evangelization; religious education; ministry training for priests, deacons, religious sisters and lay people; and support of poor parishes.

Bishop Michael Warfel of Great Falls-Billings, Montana, and chairman of the Subcommittee on Home Missions, congratulated Suley on receiving this recognition.

“I have had the great pleasure of working with Dr. David Suley for the past five years. It truly has been a joy to work with him,” Bishop Warfel said. “His enthusiasm for supporting the missionary efforts of the Church both within the U.S. and abroad is impressive. Dr. Suley is a man who has a passion for the Catholic faith and a desire to help others share that faith.”

“Dr. Suley truly exemplifies what Father Mader and his sister started 47 years ago,” said Jim Lindsay, Catholic Volunteer Network executive director. “He has stayed true to his missionary roots both in his professional and personal life and for that we honor him.”

Reflecting on the award, Suley said, "I truly am honored. From my years as a lay missionary in Malawi, Central, Africa, I have been blessed to serve those in need in our world family.” And he continued, “I have centered my personal and professional life in the Church's mission. In visiting poor, isolated mission parishes throughout the United States, I have been enriched by people's deep faith and beautiful cultural traditions. I could not have done all this without the support of my wife, Arceli, and our two adult children, Pauline and John. I am the luckiest person in the world."

The Father George Mader Award was created in 1988 to honor organizations and individuals that foster faith-based service in the United States and abroad. The award is named after Father George Mader, a priest the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, who in 1963, together with his sister, Patricia Mader Stalker, founded the Catholic Volunteer Network.

For more information on the Catholic Home Missions go to https://www.usccb.org/hm.

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Keywords: David Suley, Catholic Home Missions, National Collections, Bishop Michael Warfel, Father George Mader Award, USCCB, U.S. Catholic Bishops