USCCB approves aid to Church in Central and Eastern
Europe
(USCCB) The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops'
(USCCB) Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe approved
over $4.8 million in funding for 206 projects in 22 countries in Central and
Eastern Europe.
Projects approved for funding include:
* The Don Bosco Center for Education in
Albania, founded 21 years ago, provides cultural, social, and academic
resources to over 1,000 children from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds. The
center provides stability and aid to the rapidly growing population of people
from rural areas moving into the city to find work. The center also offers
elementary, middle and high school education and has a vocational training
center, a youth center, and a day care center. The grant will assist with
necessary updates to the building to welcome more children and provide a safe
environment for them.
* A grant to support seven priests, five hieromonks,
and eight religious sisters that serve the parishes near the war zone in Eastern
Ukraine. The armed conflict periodically reaches into that region making it
a dangerous place to live. The priests and religious have remained there to
offer pastoral and humanitarian aid to those in need. This grant will provide
food, medicine and transportation costs to support the priests and sisters as
they offer pastoral care and humanitarian aid to the tens of thousands of
internally displaced persons in the region.
"As a family of faith, we stand with those who work
tirelessly to build the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, who continue to
face the challenge of overcoming decades of political and religious
oppression," said Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago,
chairman of the USCCB Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern
Europe, "We look to those living in this region as an example of hope and
perseverance and continue to support their efforts to renew their
communities."
Other projects approved by the subcommittee include
scholarships, church construction, outreach to the poor, and evangelization
programs. Grants approved by the subcommittee support the Church in countries
that were oppressed by communist rule.
Grants are funded by the annual Collection for the Church in
Central and Eastern Europe. The national date for this collection is Ash
Wednesday, although dioceses may take it up on different days. The Subcommittee
on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe oversees the collection and
an annual grant program as part of the USCCB Committee on National Collections.
More information about the collection and who it supports can be found at www.usccb.org/ccee.
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