U.S. dollars are seen with face masks during the coronavirus pandemic in this illustration photo. A survey commissioned last fall by the Catholic Extension, which works to support Catholic communities in the poorest regions of the country, found that 13 of those dioceses saw an overall parish collection drop between 50-90%. (CNS/Dado Ruvic, Reuters) (NCR, GSR logo/Toni-Ann Ortiz)
A few weeks into the pandemic last March, Fr. Fabian Marquez, pastor of El Buen Pastor Mission in the Sparks Colonia of El Paso, in the heart of one of the poorest neighborhoods in Texas, counted the weekly collection from the parish. The grand total was $45.
Campaign aims to foster respect for religious freedom, sites
The project is part of a global call to action to foster solidarity and protect religious sites and worshippers Catholic News Service Updated: February 25, 2021 04:58 AM GMT
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UNAOC was launched in 2005. (Photo: armacad.info)
Catholic Extension has joined the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations to engage youth around the globe in raising awareness of religious freedom and cultivating interreligious respect through a campaign called #forSafeWorship.
The campaign is part of a global call to action to foster solidarity and protect religious sites and worshippers.
Catholic Extension is collaborating with the alliance, known as UNAOC, through a special storytelling project designed to celebrate the universality of religious sites as symbols of our shared humanity, history and traditions, said a news release from the Chicago-based organization.
Catholic Extension initiative aims to help 1,000 poorest parishes in U.S.
Feb 20, 2021 contributor
Parishioners gather at St. Luke s Church in Warren, Ark., in this undated photo. The parish church was built with support of Catholic Extension donors. On Feb. 8, 2021, Chicago-based Extension announced the Catholic Kinship Initiative to match financially stable parishes with a poor parish in another part of the country. (Credit: CNS photo/Rich Kalonick, courtesy Catholic Extension.)
Catholic Extension has launched a new effort to help the nation s poorest parishes and poor faith communities hit hard by COVID-19.
CHICAGO Catholic Extension has launched a new effort to help the nation’s poorest parishes and poor faith communities hit hard by COVID-19.
Catholic Extension receives $1.5 million grant for Puerto Rico recovery work
Dec 31, 2020 contributor
Vatican and Puerto Rican flags are seen as Father Carlos Francis Mendez, pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Las Marias, Puerto Rico, delivers aid Oct. 24, 2017, with parishioners to a remote area outside the town. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions announced Dec. 30, 2020, that it has awarded Catholic Extension a $1.5M grant to help support a large-scale effort toward disaster recovery for the Catholic Church in Puerto Rico. (Credit: Bob Roller/CNS.)
A $1.5 million grant awarded by the U.S. bishops Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions will support Catholic Extension s ongoing disaster recovery work in Puerto Rico three years after two devastating hurricanes.
Sr. Terry Gauvin, a finalist for the 2020 Lumen Christi Award (Courtesy of Sr. Terry Gauvin)
When a man from the bishop s council of the Diocese of Portland, Maine, approached Sr. Terry Gauvin about nominating her for a Lumen Christi Award, she told him, You know, I m really not qualified for this.
But he was persistent, and Gauvin thought it might bring attention to the anti-trafficking work of CourageLIVES, the program she has helped shepherd since its founding five years ago. Dear Lord, I never imagined I would get an award, Gauvin said.
The award from Catholic Extension was won by Fr. Ron Foshage, a La Salette priest in Jasper, Texas. But Gauvin was one of eight finalists, who each received $10,000 for their work.