WASHINGTON— The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America awarded over $3.2 milllion in funding for 173 grants to support the pastoral work of the Church in Latin America and the Caribbean, and nearly $800,000 toward seven grants for recovery and reconstruction projects in areas devastated by earthquakes in Haiti and Mexico and Hurricanes Matthew, Maria, and Irma. The grants were approved at the Subcommittee’s meeting on November 10, 2018, in Baltimore.

The Subcommittee approved funding for several projects in many countries of the region. For example, projects supporting lay formation and leadership were funded in Cuba and Ecuador; evangelization and catechesis projects were supported in Uruguay and El Salvador. Other projects were funded to support to indigenous populations in Brazil and Venezuela.

The Subcommittee also approved grants to support youth ministry and travel for delegates from various Latin American countries, including Haiti, Peru and Cuba, to participate in World Youth Day in Panama City, Panama, January 22-27, 2019.

“The Collection for the Church in America has an immeasurable impact on people throughout the region, particularly among the most vulnerable,” said Archbishop Paul D. Etienne of Anchorage, Chairman for the Committee on National Collections. “I sincerely thank the Catholics of the United States for their generosity to, and solidarity with, our sisters and brothers in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Pastoral grants are funded by the annual Collection for the Church in Latin America, taken in many dioceses across the United States on the fourth Sunday in January. The emergency and reconstruction grants were awarded from various special collections called by the USCCB.

The Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America oversees the collection and an annual grant program as part of the USCCB Committee on National Collections. It allocates revenue received from the Collection for the Church in Latin America as grants across Latin America and the Caribbean. More information about the Collection for the Church in Latin America and the many grants it funds, the latest list of the approved projects, as well as resources to promote it across the country, can be found at www.usccb.org/latin-america.

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Keywords: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Archbishop Paul D. Etienne, Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America, Caribbean, Haiti, Mexico, Hurricanes Matthew, Maria, Irma, Peru, Cuba, World Youth Day, Panama.
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Source:: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops