Home Missions Appeal

When we speak of the “Home Missions,” we are referring to those dioceses and parishes in the United States which cannot provide basic pastoral services without outside help. These basic services are Mass and the sacraments; ministry training for priests, religious and lay peoples; and keeping revenue-poor parishes open where possible. Generally, the home missions are everywhere, Catholics are few and the Church is fragile.

One such area is the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky. This diocese serves 50 counties. Thirty-nine of these are in Appalachia, one of the most economically depressed areas in the United States. Many parishes have congregations of fewer than 100 families. Priests and religious workers can travel as many as 50,000 miles a year ministering to Catholics. If you live in the Diocese of Lexington, only three out of every hundred people is a fellow Catholic. In the Appalachian counties, the figure is one in a hundred.

Our Diocese of Shreveport receives substantial grants each year through the Home Missions collections. Please do what you are able to do. Thank you.

How well did the Diocese do?

How well did you, the lay faithful, contribute to the Diocese of Shreveport’s Second Collections? Below is a recent report from our Diocesan Business Office of monies collected.

Infirm Priests Fund (December 25) $71,547.70

Diocese of Shreveport Catholic Schools
(January 26 & 27) $20,171.02

Fr. David Richter
Moderator of the Curia

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