WASHINGTON—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America approved funding for 174 projects, worth over $2.7 million in grants, to aid the pastoral work of the Church in 19 countries throughout the hemisphere. The decision was made during the subcommittee’s meeting November 12, in Baltimore.
“Determining how the money donated by parishioners in a collection will be used to assist the Church is serious and important work. We had lively discussions as we reviewed and approved funding for many important pastoral projects to support the Church in Latin America,” said Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, chair of the subcommittee. “We also have worked diligently to support the Church in Haiti and in Chile as they begin to rebuild infrastructures for the communities of faith that were impacted by the earthquakes last year.”
The first grants for reconstruction projects of the Church in Haiti were approved at the meeting. Among these are the structural repairs to a secondary diocesan school in Jacmel and the design phase of repairs to the co-cathedral in Miragoanes, totaling close to $100,000. The subcommittee has been assisting the Haitian bishops since the earthquake to put the necessary rebuilding structures in place to assure safety and efficiency. All USCCB aid for reconstruction work in Haiti will flow through PROCHE (Partnership for Reconstruction of the Church in Haiti), the Haitian Bishops’ Conference construction entity developed for this purpose.
The subcommittee also approved funding for numerous pastoral projects, formation of pastoral ministers and some extraordinary projects. For example, a special grant of $95,500 was made to the Prelature of Yauyos, in Peru, to assist in finalizing the rebuilding of churches following a devastating earthquake in 2007, and grants totaling over half a million dollars to assist the Church in Cuba were approved. Funding to assist the formation of religious, seminarians, clergy and permanent deacons totaled almost 1.8 million dollars of total funds awarded year to date.
The Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America oversees the Collection for the Church in Latin America as part of the USCCB Committee on National Collections. It provides support for the USCCB grant-making programas well as the Conference’s international policy work. More information on the Collection for the Church in Latin America and the projects it funds can be found at http://www.usccb.org/catholic-giving/opportunities-for-giving/latin-america/
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