November 11, 2011

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Right now, in the United States, 44 million people are classified by the federal government as living in poverty. That’s one out of every seven Americans, and one out of every five children. Since 1969, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) has supported works of charity and justice by funding local, regional and national community groups whose goals are to solve problems and change policies that keep low-income residents in poverty. This annual national collection is the primary source of funding for CCHD’s anti-poverty grants and education programs. During the 2010-2011 grant cycle CCHD put nearly
$8 million dollars into community efforts to fight poverty.

Each October, I have the privilege of meeting with our parish and community groups and presenting them with the local grants from this campaign. It is always inspiring to me to see how small seeds can grow into fruitful programs to help people maintain dignity in the face of poverty.

A larger portion of the collection is used to fund programs around the country through the CCHD national office. For example, the Brockton Interfaith Community (BIC) brings together area pastors to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable families in the city of Brockton, MA. At a 600-person meeting at St. Patrick Church in downtown Brockton, BIC members asked Congressional representatives and the Federal Reserve of Boston to secure new loans for unemployed homeowners and for a speedier loan modification process for troubled homeowners. As a result, four billion dollars have now been distributed toward this purpose, with another billion yet to come. At least 3,000 families in Massachusetts will be able to keep their homes.

I invite you to learn more about the Collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and the groups it funds by visiting them online at www.usccb.org/cchd .

Through CCHD, the Catholic Church is working to seek justice in light of Catholic social teaching. Please help the efforts of CCHD to break the cycle of poverty through your generous financial support in the second collection in our diocese on November 19 and 20.

With prayerful best wishes, I remain

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Robert J. McManus
Bishop of Worcester