On Mar. 18-19, Catholics all over the United States will give to The Catholic Relief Services Collection, sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and taken up in dioceses around the country. The donations will assist in alleviating the suffering of people in other parts of the world. Several diocesan collections occur on different dates. Donations can also be made through the #iGiveCatholicTogether hashtag for the collection.
Delivering Christ's Love
According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in addition to supporting Catholic Relief Services, the collection also provides funding for the programs of several other ministries. Such ministries include the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, the Holy Father's Relief Fund, the Department of Migration and Refugee Services of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for refugee resettlement, and the Department of International Justice and Peace, which advocates for the rights and protection of suffering people.
The donations made from the 2021 collection, the final one for which accounting is complete, were intended to 'Reveal Christ's Love' to individuals displaced due to conflict or natural disaster and those with specific pastoral requirements. Bishop James Wall of Gallup, head of the USCCB's Committee on National Collections, noted, "Whenever you give, your giving is multiplied by thousands of Catholics." It helps deliver the love of Christ to the world's most helpless and disadvantaged people through rescue and relief efforts.
He also pleaded with Catholics to pray for the possibility of increasing their contributions to this year's collection in light of the significant needs of persons already suffering before the COVID pandemic.
U.S. Catholic Unites
Besides contributing to the most vulnerable people in the world, the National Catholic Register reported that as Russia maintains its military offensive on Ukraine, the steadfastness of Catholics worldwide, including in the U.S., provides a concrete example of how to love one's neighbor.
In response to the appeal made by the Migration and Refugee Services (MRS) of the USCCB, parishioners in dioceses throughout the U.S. have shown their support for refugees. MRS particularly recommends the formation of "Welcome Circles," which are small communities of individuals that come together to support Ukrainian families who, as a result of the sponsorship provided by Uniting for Ukraine, can come to the U.S. for two years on humanitarian parole.
Additionally, a report from the Diocese of Scranton stated that U.S. Catholics and all people of goodwill were urged by the chairman of the international policy committee of the USCCB to pray for the victims of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked the two countries on Feb. 6 and to donate generously to those who are in need.
The bishop also asked Catholics in the U.S. "to give generously" to Catholic Relief Services and the Catholic Near East Welfare Association to assist the organizations' efforts to deliver emergency aid to those in need. In Syria's Aleppo and Hama regions, which have been ravaged by conflict for a very long time, the CNEWA, which is an agency of the Holy See, is attempting to help over 2,000 families by supplying them with bedding, food, medicine, infant formula, diapers, and clothing.
