Diocese News

 

For information click on www.usccb.org/hm or e-mail: mailto:homemissions@usccb.org

What Are Catholic Home Missions?

Missions are not only in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

The missions are wherever Catholics are few and the Church is poor and fragile: in the vast wilderness of Alaska, in the Deep South, in the Rocky Mountain states, in Appalachia, in the Southwest, in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, in distant Pacific islands like American Samoa and the Marshalls.

The Catholic Home Missions Appeal assists about 90 poor dioceses, including those of the Eastern Catholic Churches.

"Thanks to the generosity of Catholics throughout the country, the Catholic Home Missions Appeal has grown from $4.5 million to nearly $10 million in just a few years, allowing us to continue to meet the growing needs of mission dioceses," said Dr. David Suley, Director of the Catholic Home Missions Appeal. "We are committed to being good stewards of these gifts so we work very hard to keep administrative costs low. We are proud to say that last year 93 cents of every dollar collected went back out in grants to home mission dioceses."

Typically, a diocese is considered a "mission diocese" when several of the following criteria are present: financial assets are extremely meager; the Catholic population in the diocese is low (usually less than 10%); there are great geographic distances between parishes; the diocese lacks a sufficient number of priests, deacons and lay leaders; there is a growing number of a particular ethnic group needing pastoral attention; and the diocese has a high unemployment rate.

Did You Know?

Approximately 45 percent of U.S. dioceses need serious financial assistance.

In the Diocese of Baker, Oregon, the pastor celebrates Mass twice a month at St. Mary's Parish in Elgin. On the other Sundays, a deacon leads a Communion Service there, because the pastor must serve parishes in two other towns, La Grande and Union. There are only 25 active diocesan priests to cover 63 parishes and missions in this 65,000-square-mile diocese.