Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has designated one weekend every year for the Catholic Home Missions collection. This year in our diocese, the collection will take place on the weekend of April 26-27.
The program was established to guarantee continued funding for the mission dioceses in the United States, which cannot continue to exist without the financial help from Catholics elsewhere.
Just over one-third (35%) of the total number of dioceses in the United States are considered “home mission dioceses.” They are often in rural areas with small Catholic populations or are in communities that struggle economically and cannot provide basic pastoral services such as Mass, the sacraments, religious education and ministry training for priests, deacons and lay people without outside help.
This year, $8.1 million in grants is supporting essential diocesan and parish ministries. Catholic Home Missions supports a radio ministry that offers spiritual support and evangelization in English, Syriac Aramaic and Arabic. The eparchy also provides marriage preparation, which includes counseling for couples who have suffered trauma from terrorism and refugee experiences.
May the Lord bless us in our efforts to help expand and strengthen the presence of the Church at home.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Earl K. Fernandes
Bishop of Columbus