Mission Cooperative Appeal Plan

Mission Cooperative Appeal Plan 2024

The Mission Cooperative Appeal Plan is an archdiocesan cooperative program that plays a vital role in sharing with the faithful of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington about the worldwide evangelistic mission of the Church and how they can support the missions.

In 2024, fifteen mission groups were selected to make appeals in 44 archdiocesan parishes.

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2024 MCP Appeal Mission Groups  |  Resources  |  Mission Profile  |  Past Groups

Mission Groups

(Arch)Diocesan       |    Lay Organizations       |    Men’s Religious Orders       |    Women’s Religious Orders

(Arch)Diocesan

1. Archdiocese of Dhaka, Bangladesh: In a country where fewer than 1% of the population are Christian, this archdiocese serves people in one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The residents experience challenges like food insecurity, lack of safe and clean housing, and climate crises that destroy their livelihoods. Those who suffer from illness and disease face the choice of going to poorly run government health care facilities or expensive private hospitals. In response to this, the Archdiocese of Dhaka established a small hospital, St. John Vianney Hospital, to provide low-cost healthcare. Donations collected from the appeal will allow the hospital to purchase more equipment and medicine as well as hire more doctors. Additionally, they want to expand care to those in need in rural areas within the archdiocese.

   Bishop Subroto Boniface Gomes, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Dhaka, will visit parishes in the archdiocese this summer.

2. Diocese of Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo: In this diocese, 221 diocesan priests travel long distances to remote villages to serve 54 parishes and 1.5 million Catholics. These clergymen do not receive a salary and struggle to find reliable transportation to minister to their flocks. The funds received in this appeal will go toward providing a regular stipend and medical care for diocesan priests, who need increased support as their country’s instability rises.

   Fr. Jean-Pierre Bongila, from the Diocese of Kikwit, will visit parishes in the archdiocese this summer.

3. Diocese of Malindi, Kenya: Established in 2000, this diocese serves 42,000 Catholics and 24 parishes, many of whom are migrant workers and tradespeople from other areas of Kenya. The counties that comprise the diocese struggle with a high rate of illiteracy, trapping people in a cycle of poverty. In 2016, several schools were constructed to address this predicament and their first “junior secondary school” was built in 2023, increasing the student population from 250 to 284. Since they expect the school population to continue to grow, they want to use appeal donations to build dormitories so students don’t have to travel long distances by themselves for their education.

   “The construction of boarding facilities will not only increase the transition rate of many students into junior secondary school, but also reduce the high risk of sexual violence against girls in the community which has been attributed to the long distances girls have to walk to and from the school.”

   A priest from the Diocese of Malindi will visit parishes in the archdiocese this summer.

4. Diocese of Machakos, Kenya: One of the largest dioceses in Kenya that serves 83 parishes and 3.4 million people, the Diocese of Machakos is plagued by drought, famine, and poverty. The donations they receive will be used in many ways, including focusing on creating and supporting health programs aimed at mothers and children to reduce maternal and infant deaths, building clean water stations so the water-collectors — primarily young girls — can focus on their studies at school instead. The diocese maintains four institutions for children orphaned by the HIV/AIDS crisis, in addition to supporting 78 orphaned children who are educated at the Uganda Martyrs’ Home. They also educate people living with developmental disabilities at a vocational school. The diocese provides support to train catechists and lay leaders to spread the Gospel in remote areas. Finally, they help increase the adoption of improved agricultural production technology so farmers can produce quality harvests. Donations will support these crucial diocesan ministries.

   A representative from the Diocese of Machakos will visit parishes in the archdiocese this summer.

5. Diocese of Long Xuyen, Vietnam: Bordering Cambodia, this diocese serves nearly 300,000 faithful Catholics and 189 parishes in a region of about 6,500 square miles. Within the diocese are 322 priests, 357 religious sisters, 128 religious brothers, 123 seminarians, and 1,611 lay catechists. Donations received will be used for the formation of missionaries and catechists to help establish new mission communities and chapels, provide material resources for the people of the diocese, and build new classrooms for catechesis classes.

   A priest from the Diocese of Long Xuyen will visit parishes in the archdiocese this summer.

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Lay Organizations

1. Cruz Blanca : Founded in 1958 in Peru, the organization is currently under the care of the Marian Community of Reconciliation. Cruz Blanca works to form vulnerable children and adolescents during their school years by helping them to develop Catholic values and life skills. Appeal donations will be used to finance the program “Cruz Blanca Educa,” where children from the impoverished areas of the Ancón district in Lima, are accompanied in their educational development and pursuits. They promote the students’ spiritual and physical health and provide a safe environment for them to grow. The children who attend this program receive daily nutritious lunches and snacks to fuel their brains and attend different workshops about virtues, life skills, catechesis, and have dedicated time for tutoring. 100 children from ages 5 to 12 participate. Cruz Blanca also collaborates closely with their families by offering monthly workshops for parents and caretakers, as well as personal counseling and health campaigns.

   A representative from Cruz Blanca will visit parishes in the archdiocese this summer.

2. Viet Toc Foundation: This organization aims to bolster access to education for children of the indigenous Montagnard communities in the highlands of Vietnam. The Viet Toc Foundation offers scholarships to 3,000 students throughout 32 regions in the Vietnamese highlands. These scholarships fund education from preschool to university. They also support students by providing bicycles so they can get to school and fund their health care. “Our aim is to empower the younger generation through education and by nurturing their pride and dignity as they shape their futures.” Donations will go toward student scholarship and food and water deliveries to remote areas, including leper colonies.

   Fr. Rev. Vang Công Trần, from the Viet Toc Foundation, will visit parishes in the archdiocese this summer.

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Men’s Religious Orders

1. Glenmary Home Missioners: “Glenmary is a society of priests and brothers founded to serve the home missions of the United States that typically have never had a Catholic ministry presence prior to our arrival. We provide access to the Sacraments, faith formation, and outreach ministries to the poor in areas that are often less than one percent Catholic, have high poverty rates, and where many people claim no faith affiliation at all. We have nurtured over 120 mission parishes to a place of financial self-sustainability, returning them to the care of their local dioceses.” Funds collected from the appeal will support parish and outreach ministry expenses, formation education to those studying to become Glenmary priests and brothers, vocation promotion efforts, and care of senior members in retirement.

   A priest from the Glenmary Home Missioners will visit parishes in the archdiocese this summer.

2. Oblates of St. Francis De Sales: The Oblates serve some of the poorest and disadvantaged people in the world as parish priests, ministers, educators, and social workers. North African Oblates established a hospital and seminary in Côte d’Ivoire and continue to spread the Gospel there. Another site where the Oblates serve is Benin, where they help prevent girl students from entering prostitution by financially assisting these young women and mentoring them. In India, one of the Oblates’ latest projects is establishing a hostel for the homeless and a school to serve 1000 children. Donations will fund the Oblates’ various endeavors to “live Jesus” by helping those most in need around the world.

   A priest from the Oblates of St. Francis De Sales will visit parishes in the archdiocese this summer.

3. The Redemptorists Denver Province: “Redemptorists witness to the peace and joy they have found by giving their lives for plentiful redemption…These missionaries are best characterized by their closeness with the people. They understand well that the work of plentiful redemption is not theirs alone, thus they invite you to walk with them in touching and changing the lives of those most in need of redeeming mercy, healing hope, and gracious blessings.” In Brazil, the Redemptorist communities minister in several places along major tributaries of the Amazon River. In Nigeria, thirteen Redemptorist communities minister to youth, orphans, and the incarcerated in both large cities like Lagos and remote areas of the country. The funds generated from the appeal will support formation of vocation candidates in Brazil and Nigeria, salaries for Brazilian teachers and doctors, and maintaining a Nigerian retreat house.

   A priest from the Redemptorists will visit parishes in the archdiocese this summer.

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Women’s Religious Orders

1. Adrian Dominican Sisters: These Sisters discover and identify themselves in the “mission of Jesus, as women called together to share faith and life with one another and sent into our world to be with others as bearers and recipients of his love and co-creators of his justice and peace.” In the Dominican Republic, they bring necessary health care and social services in the poorest barrios, particularly serving women and children. The Sisters serve in the Philippines through education and social services ministries. They are working on a special project of assisting with providing food and education for the indigenous Aeta people in the hill country of the Pampanga region. Their appeal funds will sustain their ministries in the Dominican Republic and the Philippines.

   A sister from the Adrian Dominican Sisters will visit parishes in the archdiocese this summer.

2. Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Usambara: This religious community, located in Tanzania, focuses on helping the marginalized through a variety of ministries. Their health centers serve those suffering from malaria, typhoid fever, HIV and AIDS, and other serious illnesses. In their lay and religious formation programs, they provide a two-year catechetical and theological training to prepare young, professed sisters, and laity to serve God’s people in various settings throughout Tanzania. These Sisters are also working on a clean water project to reduced water-borne diseases, constructing a library and maternity ward at a hospital, and providing food, clothing, and shelter to those in need. Additionally, they fund student education from kindergarten through high school and provide workshops and seminars for seniors and mothers. The mission appeal collection will support their numerous ministries.

   A sister from the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Usambara will visit parishes in the archdiocese this summer.

3. Nazareth Sisters of the Annunciation: These Sisters serve in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and the United States. Appeal funds will go toward their support and care of the marginalized children and people whom they serve, including the homeless, refugees, orphans, people living with disabilities, AIDS patients, and the elderly. “Most of the children we serve live in the street because of poverty and have no one to provide for them. They are the hope for their families’ brighter future. These vulnerable children need education, medical care, food, clothing and shelter. Many of these children go begging in the streets due to lack of food and necessities and they become vulnerable targets.” The Sisters work to alleviate suffering by providing healthcare, housing, education, and nutritious food.

   Sr. Rose Hellen Karwirwa, from the Nazareth Sisters of the Annunciation, will visit parishes in the archdiocese this summer.

4. Servants of the Poor, Dinasevanasabha: The members of this congregation devote themselves to the service of the poor by catering to their spiritual and physical needs. Their ministries include providing healthcare, education, and psychological support. These sisters are present in 49 dioceses in India, Germany, and the U.S. Funds collected will benefit their no-cost nursing homes for the elderly and boarding schools for children living with or impacted by HIV/AIDS in India.

   A sister from the Servants of the Poor, Dinasevanasabha will visit parishes in the archdiocese this summer.

5. Sisters of the Imitation of Christ (Bethany Sisters): Founded in 1925, they now have 800 sisters who are engaged in empowering Indian and Ethiopian woman. They run orphanages, centers for women living with intellectually disabilities, and centers for children living with disabilities. They have also founded several mission centers in remote areas of India where they provide physical, social, financial, educational, and spiritual support to the local population. In Ethiopia, they created a mission center where children who are being exploited can have their spiritual, developmental, health, and other needs met. Donations will be used for the care of these mission centers as well as support the needs of the orphans, women living with intellectually disabilities, and children living with disabilities.

   A sister from the Sisters of the Imitation of Christ will visit parishes in the archdiocese this summer.

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Resources

These resources are available to help missionaries raise funds for their needs.

Agencies for Development Assistance by Pierre Aubin, George Cotter and Beverly A. Hennigan provides detailed information on hundreds of domestic and international agencies that provide financial aid to missions projects.

The Catholic Funding Guide is a directory of resources for funding Catholic ministries.

FADICA: Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities

Mission Project Service is a capacity-building organization that provides developing-world missionaries with tools to seek and secure funding for their projects.

List your mission project on Missio, where others can donate to meet specific needs.

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Mission Profile

Fr. Diego Cano, IVE, missionary to Tanzania

Sometimes I think that the work of a missionary is not well understood.  This is understandable because missionary work is part of a mystery.  Since he takes part in the Eucharist, the missionary priest participates in this “mystery of faith.”  For some people, the missionary ought to “do things”… above all in the world’s opinion.  It seems like the value of the missionary is measured by how many things, visible things, and works, preferably social works, he does.

When someone asks what I do in Africa, I respond that I am a missionary.  Yes, but what do you do?  That’s just it, I am a missionary, and like Christ commanded the first missionaries, I preach the gospel.  At times they keep looking at me a little disappointed… because, of course, only from the point of view of faith can one understand that our lives are devoted to this: to preaching the gospel.

We should never think that we have to choose between preaching the gospel and performing works of mercy.  We must do the one without neglecting the other, and doing works of mercy should be a way of preaching the gospel with deeds.

As missionaries, we also dream of schools, orphanages, and homes for the disabled.  But we know that all of this is in order to attend to Christ in the poor and to save the souls of the greatest number of people possible, to give testimony to the Christian life, our faith expressed in works.

This is the mystery of faith!  This is the mystery of the missionary life, united to Christ in the Eucharist, which goes unperceived by the eyes of the world, but not by the eyes of God.

“Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mk. 16:15-16).

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