Bishops’ panel awards $1.35M to work in Africa

12/3/2011

WASHINGTON — A subcommittee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has approved $1.35 million in grants to fund 51 projects in Africa.

The money comes from a USCCB collection effort called the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa and will go toward projects that support the church’s work in 14 countries.

Qualifying projects include pastoral and catechetical programs, seminaries and seminarians, the continuing education of clergy, communications and mass media as tools for evangelization, and Catholic education and schools.

“It was wonderful to be able to match funds given so generously by Catholics in the United States to those needs [in Africa],” said Bishop John Ricard, chairman of the subcommittee on the Church in Africa.

Last year, the subcommittee awarded $2.3 million in grants for the programs in Africa.