USCCB - (Office of Media Relations) - CCHD Launches First Multi-media Youth Arts Contest: Helping People Help Themselves

CCHD Launches First Multi-media Youth Arts Contest: Helping People Help Themselves

WASHINGTON (September 27, 2000) --The Catholic Campaign for Human Development has announced its first-ever Multi-Media Youth Arts contest. Youths attending grades 7-12 in Catholic schools and parishes are invited to develop the theme "Helping People Help Themselves" to create art that communicates the mission and values of the CCHD and exhibits Catholic social teachings on poverty, justice and empowerment.

"This contest is our newest response to the Catholic Bishops' mandate to integrate the social teachings of our Church more fully into educational and catechetical programs," said Rev. Robert J. Vitillo, CCHD Executive Director. "We are further inspired by Pope John Paul II's reflections on the spiritual aspect of artistic talent."

Father Vitillo referred to the Pope's April 4, 1999 Letter to Artists, in which the Holy Father said, "Those who perceive in themselves this kind of divine spark which is the artistic vocation � feel at the same time the obligation not to waste this talent but to develop it in order to put it at the service of their neighbor and of humanity as a whole."

The categories for the entries are Visual Arts, including painting, drawing, photography; Audio-visual, including music, video, website, audiovisual combination; and Literature, including poetry, prose, drama, short story and essay. After local and diocesan competitions, the finalists will be judged at the national level by professionals in the fields of art and religion. The winners will be those works of art that have most clearly and creatively communicated the work and mission of the CCHD.Individuals and teams are encouraged to submit original art work which explores the root causes of economic poverty and the ways in which CCHD addresses those issues by empowering low-income people to work together toward solutions. Entries may also reflect CCHD's mission the help Catholics better understand and respond to the causes of poverty.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development, an organization of the Catholic Bishops of the United States, is the nation's largest private funder of projects that encourage and enable the poor to work together to eliminate poverty and injustice in the U.S.

The Grand Prize winner in the Multi-media Youth Arts Contest will receive a $500 cash award and an equal amount will be designated in the winner's name to a CCHD-funded project. The Second Place winner will receive a $375 cash award with a matching amount designated to a CCHD-funded project and the Third Place winner will receive a $250 cash award, matched by a corresponding donation to a CCHD-funded project. Nine Honorable Mention awardees will receive a $50 cash prize and a certificate.

The national prizewinner in the 2001 contest will be honored at a reception held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the National Conference of Catechetical Leadership, which will be held in Buffalo in March. In subsequent years, the reception will alternate between the meetings of the NCCL and the National Catholic Educational Association. The CCHD Multi-media Youth Arts Contest also enjoys the support of the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry.

The Multi-media Youth Arts Contest is a part of the CCHD Education Office's Youth and Young Adult Initiative. Additional information on the Contest is available at the CCHD website, www.nccbuscc.org/cchd/youth.htm or by calling (202) 541-3151.

For additional information, contact Barbara Stephenson, CCHD, 202-541-3364, bstephenson@nccbuscc.org.