Catholic Home Missions Appeal to Support Essential Pastoral Programs to be Held April 27-28

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) annual Catholic Home Missions Appeal will be held in most dioceses across the country over the weekend of April 27-28. The Appeal funds grants to home mission dioceses -- dioceses and eparchies in the United States that are unable to offer their people the basic pastoral ministries of word, worship, and service without outside help.

“People across the United States long to grow closer to Christ but too many cannot access even basic pastoral programs,” said Most Reverend W. Shawn McKnight, Bishop of Jefferson City and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions. “The Catholic Home Missions Appeal helps dioceses overcome obstacles of geography, poverty, and limited resources, and fosters solidarity to help others experience the presence of the risen Lord.”

The Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions oversees the Catholic Home Missions Appeal as part of the USCCB Committee on National Collections. The Subcommittee funds a wide range of pastoral services, including those that focus on evangelization activities, religious education, and ministry training for priests, deacons, religious sisters and brothers, and laypeople, as well as support of poor parishes across the country. The Subcommittee’s grants are funded by donations to the annual collection.

In 2018, the Subcommittee approved over $9.4 million in grants to assist dioceses and eparchies this year. Currently, more than 37 percent of all US dioceses and territories receive support from the Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions. These funded dioceses are located across the United States, including the Deep South, Appalachia, and the Rocky Mountains, as well as in US territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.

More information about the Appeal, including what programs it supports and how the funds are distributed, can be found at www.usccb.org/home-missions. People who live in dioceses that do not participate in the collection can learn more online.

Richard Coll, Director of the Catholic Home Missions program, is available for media interviews.

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Keywords: USCCB, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Home Missions Appeal

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