Friends,

We are pleased to present to you this new feature, which is meant to strengthen the bond between our partners in philanthropy and the mission dioceses we serve, and to bring us all closer together in the common purpose of supporting the Church in under-resourced and isolated parts of the country.

A recent survey conducted by Catholic Extension of mission dioceses in the United States revealed eight mission dioceses where half the parishes have no pastor; three where more than half the priests are retired or infirm; and nine mission dioceses have less than $50 in assets per Catholic.

These compelling statistics highlight the need for continued support from women and men of faith who recognize God at work in their brothers and sisters in the Catholic Church across America–in places they will never see and among people they will likely never meet.

Just two samples among the many statistics produced in the study:

• In the Dioceses of Fairbanks, Alaska; Superior, Wisconsin; Crookston, Duluth and New Ulm, Minnesota; Salina, Kansas; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 50 percent of the parishes have no pastor. In the Diocese of Dodge City, Kansas, the figure is 72 percent.

  Together, these dioceses serve nearly a half-million Catholics.

• In Texas, there is one priest for every 10,000 Catholics in the Diocese of Brownsville and one for every 6,800 Catholics in the Diocese of El Paso.

Examples of how your support helps address the critical needs expressed to Catholic Extension through our Grants Program currently include:

Social or Clinical Outreach

• 23 grant applications totaling $354,520

Salary Subsidies

• 175 grant applications totaling $2,341,072

Future Ordained Leadership Funding

• 33 grant applications totaling $1,823,035

Lay Leadership Formation

• 15 grant applications totaling $180,585

“At a time when even many big-city archdioceses encounter significant financial obstacles, these figures certainly highlight a broad array of challenges the Church and her missioners face every day across mission America,” said Bob Dixon of Catholic Extension. “That is why we thank our generous supporters to Catholic Extension who – every day – allow America’s missioners to recognize the face of God in all those they serve.

“Supporters of Catholic Extension, women and men of deep faith, see the work of the Divine alive in every corner and people of the United States, in places far and wide, and do what they can to be present to these communities by sharing their own gifts,” Dixon said. “Their generosity shines even in the face of daunting statistics such as these. We are immensely grateful for their generosity and the difference they make.”

Seminarian at Mt. Angel Seminary at St. Benedict in Oregon.

Pope Benedict XVI recently announced that the Church will celebrate the Year for Priests from June 19, 2009, through June 19, 2010. Catholic priests throughout the world will spend this coming year deepening their commitment to their calling – a ministry of leadership, service and living the Gospel message.

Catholic Extension also invites you to celebrate the Year for Priests by reflecting on the gift of priesthood and learning more about the need to help educate seminarians for missions within our own country.

The call to priesthood resonates across America daily. Those who listen and respond spend years in academic and prayerful preparation. Many seminarians come from and return to serve in under-resourced and isolated mission areas like the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, where there is only one priest for every 9,000 Catholics. As they give their lives in resounding answer to a Divine calling, Catholic Extension partners with them at every step of their journey.

It costs an average of $25,000 a year, for six years or more, to educate and provide for each seminarian – a cost that is prohibitive to nearly 40 percent of the dioceses in the country. We invite you to make this year a special opportunity to support Catholic Extension’s Building Leaders initiative, which provides assistance to create the next generation of leaders in the church.

Support is a powerful expression of celebration and partnership. Through supporters like you, Catholic Extension can help defray the cost of tuition, books and training for nearly 400 seminarians preparing for the priesthood.

Their education and work is critical, and your support helps them move closer to the priesthood – and active missionary work.

“The church needs priests who are holy, ministers who help the faithful experience the merciful love of the Lord and who are convinced witnesses of that love.”

–Pope Benedict XVI

Charter Membership in the Socius Circle recognizes the outstanding commitment of those who invest in Catholic

Your gift helps people like Sister Frances Vista run food banks and bring communities together through healthy eating classes.

Extension with annual giving of $1,000 or more to Awaken the Mission Spirit in America.

Socius Circle honors the critical role our faithful supporters play in “accompanying” missionaries across America and reaching out a hand to help communities of faith create an empowering and vibrant experience of Church.

With your support, the Catholic Church can continue to thrive in some of the most challenging of places as missionaries work in inner city and rural missions alike. Day after day, these men and women of faith make sure that Catholics everywhere in the United States, no matter what their circumstances, can experience the transforming power of the Gospel.

We invite you to be a leader in this great mission opportunity. Your Socius Circle gift of at least $1,000 each year enjoins you with missionaries and faithful across the United States. By becoming a member, you also join a movement at the very heart of God’s mission in the world to create communities of faith, hope, compassion and love.

It’s easy and convenient to become a Charter Member of the Socius Circle online. Just visit our Online Giving page.

Purchase your 2010 Catholic Extension calendars!

Many people don’t realize that there is missionary work going on right here in America – in our own backyards! Catholic Extension is the leading supporter of that missionary work. In fact, almost every diocese in the United States has been touched in some way by Catholic Extension. Since 1905, more than $450 million has been distributed to dioceses to help them staff and operate their small, struggling parishes.

Last year, Catholic Extension provided more than $18 million to America’s Catholic missions — calendar sales played a big role in that success story. With your help, a portion of every calendar sale — essentially “the profit” — goes directly to support men and woman of faith in mission throughout America. We invite you to be an important part of the Catholic Church Extension Society’s Calendar Program. You play a major role in mission success all over the United States when you choose calendars from the Catholic Church Extension Society.

Purchase your 2010 Catholic Church Extension Society calendars today!

By Robert Dixon, vice president for marketing and communications

I recently visited mission churches in rural Georgia and Utah as part of a team working on a short film for Catholic Extension, a teaching video that will help us explain not only what we do but for whom.

The trip took us to two parishes in the Diocese of Savannah, which encompasses the southern end of Georgia. Our first stop was at Holy Family Catholic Church in a town called Metter, which sits along Interstate 16 between Atlanta and Savannah. Our cameras would be there to capture a Mass honoring the 50^th anniversary of the Catholic presence in Metter, as well as the sacraments of confirmation and first communion.

Catholic Extension, through our donors, helped build the church—twice. The first chapel, roughly four decades old, is modest and small, with a kitchen in back. It’s now the parish hall.

The newer church is a big improvement, a handsome building on three well-groomed acres. It makes for a picturesque scene.

The congregants reflected the same pride. The people wore dresses to the nines, and the atmosphere was so celebratory. People were really just glad to be there.

Presiding over the Mass was Savannah Bishop Kevin Boland, who proved unflappable even when a teenage girl in her finest clothes interrupted his homily, walking down the center aisle and nodding in deference before taking her seat.

“Glad you could join us!” Bishop Boland said, with good humor.

The next day we repeated the process, this time to the onion fields around Sand Hill, a tiny crossroads town in what city dwellers might consider the middle of nowhere.

Here, too, in a humble set of modular buildings, the worship at Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission was joyous. Smiling children dressed from head to toe in white received the sacraments amid the icons and low-hanging lights, a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe on prominent display.

Before and after the Mass our crew interviewed the bishop, priests and parishioners, and one theme ran through every conversation: everyone wanted to be certain that you, the donors of Catholic Extension, knew how much of a real, measurable impact you were having on their lives by making it possible for them to practice their faith to the fullest.

Extension magazine recently received this letter from Father Eddie Fronske of St. Francis Church in Whiteriver, Ariz., written to an anonymous donor who responded to an article about mission work on an Apache reservation. Father Fronske asked us to print it in the magazine, and we will.

But really, Father Fronske is speaking to all of us, and the inspiring words he received and gave back are worth reading on their own.

Here is the letter:

Dear anonymous benefactor and reader of Extension,

Thank you for your wonderful response to the article in Extension! You sent a donation of $300, holy cards and a most encouraging letter. Your letter was a special gift to me. Life is so challenging here on the reservation, with three parishes many miles apart and struggling with finances as never before.

You assured me of your prayers and reminded me that God is there in the worst of times and even when it doesn’t seem like it. You reminded me to stay with my 2-plus hours of prayer a day and assured me that God hears. Thank you for such a personal and spiritual touch. Thank you for your financial help, but most of all for your heart, from which came needed words of encouragement and love.

May God bless you a hundred-fold.
Gratefully,
Father Eddie Fronske, ofm

Catholic Extension has awarded $100,000 to St. Augustine Church in Dardanelle, Ark., President Fr. Jack Wall said this week. The money will allow the rapidly growing congregation to increase seating by 75 percent, to 280 from 160.

“People have been standing outside in the cold, heat and rain,” said Father Clayton Gould, St. Augustine’s pastor. “This will alleviate much of the congestion.”

The congregation is growing largely because of Latino workers who have come to work at livestock-processing plants in the area. St. Augustine is the only church with Spanish liturgy in the area and covers a 15- to 20-mile radius, but English Masses are also drawing more Hispanic worshippers, Gould said.

The construction project will also expand the sacristy, bathrooms and vestibule.

The congregation had already raised the majority of the funding, Fr. Gould said. But other costs, such as repaving the parking lot and architect fees, increased the tab.

“So we were $100,000 short—until now!” Fr. Gould said.

Fundraising activities included an event with Mexican food and rides that drew people from all over the area and netted $11,000 in one day.

“They’ve been working so hard to raise money,” Fr. Gould said. “This is just going to be a shot in the arm for us.”