Faithful in the Diocese of Camden are being asked to support the annual collection that aids families, funds Catholic education and fosters vocations in areas of Central and South America as well as the Caribbean.
The weekend of Jan. 25-26, a collection will be taken up in parishes across the nation for the Church in Latin America. In 2024, $72,989 was collected across the Diocese of Camden. This campaign is sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America.
“With the support of parishioners like you, the collection for the Church in Latin America helps countless poor and marginalized people experience God’s love and share it with their neighbors,” Bishop Daniel H. Mueggenborg of Reno, Nev., the chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on National Collections, said in a statement.
The prelate also recalled the example of Blessed Stanley Rother, a priest from Oklahoma whom he met in 1981 and who was later martyred in Guatemala while dedicating his life to serving Latin American Catholics most in need.
“Blessed Stanley Rother ministered even in the face of great danger because God had called him to love and care for Latin Americans in need. Father Rother’s ministry to the poor threatened the interests of powerful people and it ultimately led to his death,” the bishop said.
“The Collection for the Church in Latin America is an opportunity for all of us to answer that … call [to solidarity]. It may not cost us our lives, but a financial sacrifice, even a small one, will go toward impacting the lives of many,” the prelate encouraged.
Last year, the collection supported more than 250 ministries in places where the Church cannot sustain itself without help. More than half of the funds were used for pastoral needs, about 28% went to disaster relief, and about 20% supported vocations and the formation of clergy and religious.
Catholic News Agency contributed to this report.
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