USCCB - (Church in Africa)

History

Building on their 2001 statement, A Call to Solidarity with Africa, the full body of U.S. bishops authorized the creation of a voluntary diocesan collection and an Ad Hoc Committee on the Church in Africa in November 2004. In 2008, it became a Subcommittee of the Committee on National Collections.

The Subcommittee is charged with creating and managing a "Pastoral Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa." The Fund serves as the repository of amounts raised through voluntary diocesan collections, gifts, and other means. The Pastoral Solidarity Fund aims to strengthen the pastoral capacity of the Church in Africa, a Church that is spiritually rich but desperately poor. Working from the goals outlined in Ecclesia in Africa, the Subcommittee is responsible for receiving, distributing, and accounting for these funds and designating them for pastoral projects of the Church in Africa. The Subcommittee also hopes to provide a basis for assessment, planning, and decision-making for dioceses and parishes looking to coordinate their responses to Africa.

This initiative seeks to provide a serious, sustained response that will meet genuine needs, strengthen the capacity of the Church in Africa, and provide for effective and transparent accountability.

Celebrating First Communion in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Easter 2003

"The Synod for Africa reminded us of the astonishing richness of the cultures of Africa and the profound contributions that the Church in Africa has made to the universal Church from its earliest history.

- A Call to Solidarity with Africa (2001)