Projects in Need
Mass Stipends for Priests in India
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The Diocese of Nongstoin is in an impoverished part of India, in the state of Meghalaya, which is on the frontier with Bangladesh. It includes 22 parishes and 1,076 villages. 850 of the villages have Catholics living in them, and most of them are in remote, rural areas. The people live overwhelmingly on traditional agriculture. If the main breadwinner falls ill, even for a few days, the entire family goes hungry. The roads are poor to non-existent, and many of ...
Help for 22 Seminarians in India
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The Catholic Church in northeast India is still relatively young and took root at the end of the 19th century. Indeed, in many parts of this region, the Catholic presence dates back no more than a few decades. One of the younger dioceses in this part of India is Bongaigaon, first established in the year 2000. There are approximately 74,000 Catholics in the diocese today, most of whom belong to the indigenous Bodo tribal people. But there are at least ...
A Pastoral Center for a Parish in Brazil
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The parish of Boqueirão belongs to the Diocese of Campina Grande in an impoverished part of northern Brazil. It is about 60 years old and is dedicated to Nossa Senhora do Desterro, or Our Lady of the Flight – a reference to the flight into Egypt by Our Lady and Saint Joseph with Christ, to escape King Herod’s executioners. Within the town of Boqueirão itself, and in all the surrounding area, there is a lively devotion to the Mother of ...
Support for Religious Sisters in Ukraine
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The Greek Catholic congregation of the Handmaids of the Immaculate Virgin Mary has 103 sisters working in 16 towns and cities in Ukraine. They run kindergartens, prepare people for the Sacraments, care for children from difficult homes; they look after the needy, the elderly, and the lonely. They take care to ensure that churches are always clean and beautifully decorated. They sew liturgical vestments and bake the Prosphora, as the altar breads are known in the Eastern Catholic Churches. They run ...
Mass Stipends for Priests in Zimbabwe
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For the Church, Africa is a continent of hope. Not only is the number of faithful growing, but the number of priests is, too. In fact, many priests worldwide now come from Africa. The priests live their vocation with joy and commitment, though their conditions are often difficult. In the Diocese of Masvingo, in south-east Zimbabwe, there are just 65 priests for about a quarter of a million Catholic faithful, and the region is over 27,000 square miles. The distances ...
Three Motorized Rickshaws for Pastoral Work in Colombia
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The Apostolic Vicariate of Mitú lies in the Amazon region of eastern Colombia, in an area covering over 21,000 square miles (54,000 km²). Roughly a third of its population lives in the town of Mitú, and the remainder are scattered throughout the jungle-clad region. The majority of them belong to one of the 26 different indigenous tribal groups, each with its own language and its own particular customs. Pastoral outreach is difficult here, due to vast distances, and the Church ...
Help to Build a Parish Church in Indonesia
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With 272 million people, Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation in the world. But its religious make-up varies from place to place. The island of Flores, for example, is mainly Catholic. The parish of Copang in western Flores was established in 2017 and today has a population of over 7,800 Catholic faithful that grows annually. This is a very lively parish; Holy Mass is well-attended; and the people genuinely strive to live their faith every day. The parish has ...
Help to Repair a Church Tower in Ukraine
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Sudowa Wyschnja is a small town in West Ukraine. Its Latin Catholic parish and two sub-parishes are very lively and run by the Franciscans. There are about 350 parishioners, with many young families and different parish groups. The members of the Franciscan Third Order, or lay Franciscans, lovingly care for their church and help to make sure that the liturgy is celebrated well. There is a “living Rosary” group that prays the Rosary daily, and another group involved in social ...
Help 30 Seminarians in Uganda
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The Diocese of Nebbi is in northern Uganda, in a region that suffered greatly from years of internal warfare, between the Ugandan government and a rebel group called the Lord’s Resistance Army. The fighting began in 1987 and ended in 2006, but its consequences are still evident. Ordinary people have barely managed to build new lives. The Catholic Church in Uganda is not only very poor, but challenged in its pastoral work. Within the Diocese of Nebbi, there are many ...
Support the Life and Ministry of Sisters in Colombia
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The sisters of Saint Vincent have been working in southwest Colombia since 1997. Their mission in this mountain region covers eight indigenous reserves and 36 villages. Distances are long, and the roads are difficult. Even with a car, it takes two to three hours to reach some villages. And there is only one bus a day, meaning that the sisters often have to journey for hours on foot. The ordinary people have suffered greatly from armed conflicts, past and present, and from ...