U.S. Bishop to Inspect Church Projects Supported by American Catholics in African Visit

The Bishop who joined the USCCB Subcommittee in April this year said that his Diocese is “special focus” on the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa.

Bishop Dolan is said to have instructed the 94 parishes under his Pastoral care to use the special collection “as a way to help educate the faithful about the beauty of the universal Church and its needs.”

“While we work lovingly to build our parish communities, we are always aware, and at times need to remind ourselves, that we are part of a universal Church that is not bound to one people or place,” the Bishop of Phoenix Diocese since August last year said in a letter addressed to the parishes.

He added, “Our local church in fact is always in communion with the whole Church and the life of grace that flows through it.”

The August 1 report lists poverty, ecological disasters, government unrest, conflict, and major population displacements as some of the challenges affecting the Church on the African continent.

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The Solidarity Fund is meant to focus exclusively on pastoral needs, including pastoral and catechetical programs; equipping seminaries and seminarians; continuing education of clergy; communications and mass media; and supporting Catholic education and schools.

Last year, the USCCB subcommittee is said to have approved grants totaling more than $2.6 million for 91 projects in Africa. Diocesan seminarians in Sudan and South Sudan and some lay leaders in Uganda’s Kasana-Luweero Diocese benefited from the grants.

Africa is listed among the destinations of millions of dollars raised by American dioceses.

Grants come from four different national collections that American dioceses contributed to, namely the Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, the Collection for the Church in Latin America, the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa, and the 2022 Bishops Emergency Disaster Fund.” 

Silas Mwale Isenjia is a Kenyan journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communication from Moi University in Kenya. Silas has vast experience in the Media production industry. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.