CRS Collection to help people in need throughout the world

A second collection was to be taken up in parishes throughout the Jefferson City diocese the weekend of March 21-22 for Catholic Relief Services Collection.

Catholics throughout the diocese are urged to contact their parishes on how best to contribute to this worthy cause.

This annual collection supports the work of:

• Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and several other Catholic agencies that help people overseas who are sick, hungry or otherwise in need;
• Peter’s Pence, which supports the administration and works of the Holy Father; and
• the Franciscan Commissariat for the Holy Land, which supports sacred shrines and the Church’s work in the Holy Land.

The Catholic Relief Services  Collection helps people who live in poverty, as well as victims of persecution, war and natural disasters.

It does so through development projects, pastoral outreach, legal support services, advocacy, and educational opportunities. “Your support of this collection makes a difference for so many around the globe,” stated Bishop W. Shawn McKnight in a letter to the people of this diocese.

Funds donated to the annual collection are provided to six Catholic groups that share in the Catholic mission of promoting the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the human person: the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church, Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, and Department of Migration and Refugee Services, as well as CRS, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), and the Holy Father’s Relief Fund.

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

CRS is the official international agency of the Catholic community in the United States.

The agency provides emergency relief in time of famine, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.

It also supports agriculture, education and economic development to help people who are poor.

For example, young people such as Zeineba, a seventh-grader in a rural village in Ethiopia, receives tutoring and school tuition assistance through CRS.

Through the support from the collection, Zeineba’s academic scores have improved, she has gained confidence, and she has lead a group of students that provide support for other girls.

She not only has a bright future, but she also sets an example for her neighbors and her two younger sisters.

“Through almsgiving, we extend a hand of fraternal charity and give witness to the Risen Christ while offering hope to people who live on the margins,” said Archbishop Paul D. Etienne of Seattle, chairman of the Committee on National Collections for the USCCB.

He said he’s extremely grateful and encouraged by the support these agencies receive from the collection each year.

“Faithful across the United States, through their donations, make a tremendous impact in the lives of our brothers and sisters here at home and across the globe who are denied their basic needs including education, food, shelter and safety,” he stated.

More information about the collection, who it supports and how the funds are distributed, can be found at: usccb.org/catholic-relief.