Catholic Relief Services Collection, Mar. 10-11

Bishop W. Shawn McKnight saw firsthand how a fresh-water project in an isolated Ethiopian village did more than quench the residents’ thirst.

It pointed to a more promising future.

“The social impact of digging fresh water wells in outlying villages is enormous,” said Bishop McKnight.

He took part in a Catholic Relief Services-sponsored trip to Ethiopia in 2015 to learn about various projects Catholics in the United States are funding to help people in need.

He toured the well in the Meki District while learning about the impact of water, micro-finance, and agriculture/climate projects.

“I found out about how the well allowed the girls of the community to attend school,” said Bishop McKnight. “Before that, the women of the village were responsible every day to walk 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) each way to a fresh water source, which didn’t allow them to attend school.”

This year’s Catholic Relief Services Collection, to be taken up the weekend of March 10-11, will give Catholics throughout the United States a chance to support projects such as these around the world, along with a host of other international relief and solidarity endeavors.

Among these are relief and resettlement for victims of persecution, war and natural disasters; development projects to improve living conditions for the poor; legal and support services for poor immigrants; peace and reconciliation work for people suffering from violence; and advocacy on behalf of the powerless.

Entities within the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) that receive support from the collection include the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church, the Department of Justice Peace and Human Development, and the Department of Migration and Refugee Services.

Other Catholic organizations that receive funds from the collection are: Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., and the Holy Father’s Relief Fund.

The USCCB Administrative Committee is responsible for grant-making from this national collection.

In addition, a portion of the money given to the collection in this diocese goes to the Peter’s Pence fund, which helps support Pope Francis’ charitable efforts; and to the Franciscan Commissariat of the Holy Land, which helps support the Christian people who live where Jesus carried out His earthly ministry, and assists with the upkeep of the pilgrimage sites there.

“Through these groups, Catholics in the United States provide food, shelter and other vital human assistance to Jesus in the disguise of suffering people every day,” Bishop McKnight wrote in a March 10-11 letter to the people of this diocese.

More information about The Catholic Relief Services Collection can be found at: www.usccb.org/catholic-relief.