U.S. Bishops Provide Aid to Education Center in Albania and Support for Those Affected by the War in Eastern Ukraine

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops'(USCCB) Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europeapproved over $4.8 million in funding for 206 projects in 22 countries inCentral and Eastern Europe.

Projects approved for funding include:

·        The Don Bosco Center for Education in Albania, founded21 years ago, provides cultural, social, and academic resources to over 1,000children from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds. The center provides stabilityand aid to the rapidly growing population of people from rural areas movinginto the city to find work. The center also offers elementary, middle and highschool education and has a vocational training center, a youth center, and a daycare center. The grant will assist with necessary updates to the building to welcomemore children and provide a safe environment for them.

·        A grant to support seven priests, fivehieromonks, and eight religious sisters that serve the parishes near the warzone in Eastern Ukraine. The armed conflict periodically reaches into thatregion making it a dangerous place to live. The priests and religious haveremained there to offer pastoral and humanitarian aid to those in need. Thisgrant will provide food, medicine and transportation costs to support thepriests and sisters as they offer pastoral care and humanitarian aid to thetens of thousands of internally displaced persons in the region.

"As a family of faith, we stand with those who worktirelessly to build the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, who continue toface the challenge of overcoming decades of political and religious oppression,"said Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, chairman of the USCCB Subcommittee onAid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, "We look to those living inthis region as an example of hope and perseverance and continue to supporttheir efforts to renew their communities."

Other projects approved by the subcommittee includescholarships, church construction, outreach to the poor, and evangelizationprograms. Grants approved by the subcommittee support the Church in countries thatwere oppressed by communist rule.

Grants are funded by the annual Collection for the Churchin Central and Eastern Europe. The national date for this collection is AshWednesday, although dioceses may take it up on different days. The Subcommitteeon Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe oversees the collection andan annual grant program as part of the USCCB Committee on National Collections.More information about the collection and who it supports can be found at www.usccb.org/ccee.

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Keywords:U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Committee on National Collections,

Collectionfor the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, EasternEurope, Albania, Ukraine, Don Bosco Center, youth, evangelization, pastoralcare, humanitarian

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