Description: 

The USCCB’s Secretariat of Justice and Peace and Catholic Charities USA are offering grants of $1000, $1,500 or $2,000 for Catholic Social Teaching (CST) formation sessions to be led by (arch)dioceses in collaboration with local Catholic Charities agencies. The program will also encourage diocesan-level collaboration between Hispanic/Latino Ministry and Catholic Charities agencies.  

Background/Purpose:

The grants are intended to both offer CST formation for parish or diocesan leaders and to develop or strengthen new relationships or existing collaboration between Hispanic/Latino Ministry and Catholic Charities agencies’ staff at the diocesan level. 

Many issues are of common concern to the communities that Hispanic/Latino Ministry and Catholic Charities agencies staff serve—for example, immigration, care for creation, housing, education, safety, racial justice, mental health and workers’ rights. Yet, our communities do not always work together or have the necessary resources to form local leaders to act on these issues. This is a missed opportunity! Working together as we plan and carry out faith-inspired responses to issues that impact our families and communities means that we can develop new relationships, that everyone’s voices may be heard, and that diverse gifts and skills will enliven and enrich our efforts together. 

This grants program, which is a joint project of the USCCB’s Secretariat of Justice and Peace and Catholic Charities USA, testifies to our call, as people of faith, to together imitate Jesus’ example to “bring glad tidings to the poor, . . . proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (Lk 4:18).

The timing of the launch of this program is no accident. The Catholic Social Teaching Certificate Program for Hispanic/Latino Regional Facilitators has graduated over 200 ministry leaders from 80 (arch)dioceses who are committed to sharing CST locally. The accomplishments achieved by this CST Certificate Program, combined with the implementation of the new National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministry, have resulted in an atmosphere that is ripe for new collaboration and relationship-building.

Examples of Projects: 

There are numerous formation models and good practices that have been developed by graduates of the CST Certificate Program. Several examples are below. You may propose a project similar to or different from those below, geared towards your own local needs. 

• The Office of Latino Ministry at the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis creatively engaged 45 participants of the Pastoral Leadership Institute in learning about CST and the Two Feet of Love in Action. During their social justice retreat on May 13, 2023, they packed 50 backpacks of personal care items for people in migrant detention centers and learned about local ways to advocate for immigrant’s rights.
• The Offices of Hispanic Ministry in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and the Dioceses of Fort Wayne–South Bend and Lafayette led a CST training session on August 13, 2023. The participants learned about CST principles and advocated for a bill that would benefit thousands of undocumented immigrants with driver’s licenses in the State of Indiana. Staff of the Indiana State Catholic Conference and State Senators also joined the training. These same offices organized a Legislative Breakfast on February 1, 2024, in collaboration with the Indiana Latino Institute to advocate for policies that safeguard the rights and dignity of Hispanic/Latino Catholics in the State of Indiana.
• The Offices of Latino Ministries and Life and Justice Ministries at the Diocese of Oakland put together a series of workshops on how the Eucharist inspires our work for mission. These workshops, which were offered on September 20 and September 23, 2023, explored ways in which the Eucharist transforms and invites us to live CST as missionary disciples working to create a more just and dignified world. These workshops were offered in collaboration with the Instituto Hispano of the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University. Over 150 participants attended the first workshop, and another 100 attended the second workshop. A third workshop was offered online in collaboration with the local Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Chapter, which included the participation of more than 70 people.   

Please note that the grants do not aim to support projects that are solely devoted to charitable works that meet only immediate, short-term needs. 

Preference will be given towards projects submitted by graduates of the CST Certificate Program and projects that emphasize formation in Catholic Social Teaching, or which combine a charitable works and a social justice approach. For more information on the difference between charitable works and social justice, please see the Two Feet of Love in Action page at www.usccb.org/twofeet.

Catholic Social Teaching Grants Program Application