october 8-9, 2016Church in mission

Combined Collections3501 South Lake Drive • P.O. Box 070912

Milwaukee, WI 53207-0912 • 414-769-3570

You have the power to spread God’s Word

and His love nationally and locally.

Gifts of all sizes are welcome.

you are needed.

Please make your gift today.

“We have to state, without mincing words, that there is an inseparable bond between our faith and the poor. May we never abandon them.” Pope Francis

ARCHDIOCESE of MILWAUKEE

LOCAL collection.INTERNATIONAL impact.

The Catholic Relief Services Collection

Heeding the Gospel call to love others as we love God, the Catholic Relief Services Collection funds six Catholic agencies that touch more than 100 million lives around the world. The funds from this collection provide vital humanitarian needs, support to displaced refugees, and Christ’s love and respect to all people. Your donations have:

• Provided temporary shelter, food, water and sanitation to 20,000 families affected by the April 2016 earthquake in Ecuador;

• Established water programs in 40 countries, including 700 water sources in Ethiopia that provide clean water to 2.1 million people; and

• Provided intensive case management services to 2,232 survivors of human trafficking and more than 500 of their family members.

To learn more about these vital international programs, visit www.crs.org or contact Rob Shelledy, (414) 758-2286, shelledyr@archmil.org.

CHURCH IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

The Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe (CCEE) supports those still struggling to cope with the aftermath of living under Soviet rule. Those in Eastern European countries and parts of Russia often experience poverty, infrequent pastoral care, and lack of buildings in which to worship. This collection allows us in the United States to restore the Church and build the future by supporting our brothers and sisters who experience these struggles on a daily basis.

In southeast Poland, the town of Rymanów-Zdrój struggles with high unemployment since the largest business is a spa, offering only seasonal work. Because of this, many residents live in poverty and do not have access to quality education for their children. The Daughters of Charity are working to provide greater spiritual formation and education, focused on Christian virtue and the love of God.

The funds gathered in the collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe are used to support seminaries, social service programs, youth ministry, pastoral centers, church construction and renovation. To learn more, please visit www.usccb.org and search “Church in Central and Eastern Europe.”

CATHOLIC HOME MISSIONSThe Church has great needs around the world, and the United States is no exception. Many dioceses here at home face challenges due to priest shortages, lack of funds, remote geography, or impoverished parishes. The Catholic Home Missions Appeal answers these needs and provides grants for projects to strengthen the faith of the people.

Forty-two percent of all dioceses in the United States receive Catholic Home Missions support for evangelization, catechesis, ministry formation, and other areas of faith development. Your support of this collection will help your neighbors here in the United States and strengthen the Church at home.

Please be generous in the Catholic Home Missions Appeal and help strengthen the Church at home. For more information, please visit www.usccb.org and search “Catholic Home Missions.”

WORLD MISSION SUNDAY 2016Your ongoing support of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is vital to the missionaries serving in 1,111 dioceses throughout Asia, Africa, parts of Latin America and Europe, and on the Islands of the Pacific. Your generosity makes it possible for local priests, religious and catechists to reach out to communities, families and children in desperate need, bringing the light of Christ to the darkest of circumstances.

World Mission Sunday highlights the outreach of local churches through priests, religious and laity among the poor and marginalized half a world away. Life-changing help is provided to mission churches in territories covering more than half the globe.

We are called to face the mission of the Church by meeting the needs of all people. As missioners, this means knowing and respecting other philosophical systems, and realizing that all peoples and cultures have the right to be helped from within their own traditions.

During this Jubilee Year of Mercy, let us continue living as Christian witnesses as we highlight the Father’s love among the poor and underprivileged. To learn more, contact the Office for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith at the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, (414) 758-2280, wmo@archmil.org.

PETER’S PENCE In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis calls us to be attentive to the voices of those on the margins and respond readily to their needs. He reminds us that “it is time to return to the basics and to bear the weaknesses and struggles of our brothers and sisters” (Misericordiae Vultus [MV], no. 10). The Peter’s Pence Collection gives each of us an opportunity to be a witness of charity to those who suffer most.

In Pope Francis, we have a joyful witness of charity. By supporting this collection, we answer his appeal to “open our eyes and see the misery of the world, the wounds of our brothers and sisters who are denied their dignity, and . . . recognize that we are compelled to heed their cry for help!” (MV, no. 15).

Contributions to the Peter’s Pence Collection support the charitable works of the Holy Father, as he reaches out to our brothers and sisters suffering the effects of war and violence, natural disasters, and religious persecution. Through this collection, we stand in solidarity with Catholics all over the world to support the charitable works and outreach of the Holy See.

Join Pope Francis and be a witness of charity throughout the world. Please be generous in the Peter’s Pence Collection. For more information, please visit www.usccb.org and search “Peter’s Pence.”