Catholic Communications Campaign

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May 27, 2022

Dear friends in Christ,

Each year the dioceses around the country are asked to support the Catholic Communications Campaign. This year we need your help more than ever. Why?

A few generations ago, if we wanted to share something with Catholics it was quite simple – we put it in the bulletin. That bulletin got into most households in every parish throughout the diocese.

Fast forward a few generations. Fewer people are in the pews on a regular basis. Being able to communicate is not so simple. People get information from a variety of sources, many of which are not always trustworthy. We’ve all seen the comic ad on TV where someone says “It must be true. I read it on the internet!” We may laugh, but how do we trust our sources of information about our faith?

The Catholic Communications Campaign raises funds to be shared between the national communications office of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference and our local diocesan Communications Ministry. Its principal mission is to provide Catholic media with national and international news and to inform secular media, whether in print, online or broadcast TV, with a reliable viewpoint.

Our local Communications Ministry interacts with secular media and coordinates information with The Catholic Free Press which is needed now more than ever given the consolidation of local newspapers by national conglomerates. Our TV Ministry continues to offer the Sunday Mass and Daily Mass on local public access channels, the internet and onto our parish websites for those parishes who chose to provide it. It also collaborates with diocesan ministries in producing various information programs available on the internet as well as on DVD. Communications Ministry also provides a quality web platform with shared Catholic resources to all parishes and a uniform email and texting platform. Many parishioners have told us how important these media are in helping them to stay in touch with their parishes, especially in sustaining their faith life despite the pandemic. 

To fund our local communications, this collection is a small yet critical part of a more complex funding program that also includes Partners in Charity, parish contributions, corporate sponsorships and advertising, home subscriptions and individual contributions.

The most important reason why we need Communications Ministry more than ever is tied to our evangelizing mission. We need to communicate in order to offer an invitation to know Jesus Christ through his Church. In apostolic times, our patron, St. Paul, went out in the public squares of the communities he visited to preach the Good News. Today, the public square is more virtual - online, on TV, in texts, emails and in print and social media.

Thank you for prayerfully considering how you can help us “Share the Good News” in the Catholic Communications Campaign collection on the weekend of June 5. 

With every prayerful best wish, I remain

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Robert J. McManus
Bishop of Worcester