The Bishop’s Annual Appeal : “Living The Gospel In Faith, Hope, And Charity”
By Michael Ames
Office of Development and Planning
 
In living the Gospel, we are “creating a culture of care” which is at the heart of our Christian faith and connects us to one another.  Pope Francis reminds us that “Compassion has a human face.  It means … to not remain indifferent to the pain and suffering of others.” The Bishop’s Annual Appeal enables the Diocese of Columbus to respond with compassion to the needs of many people within our community. 
What does our support of the Appeal do in creating this culture of care?  As part of our Catholic Charities programs, the St. Francis Center in McArthur helps families struggling with the effects of poverty and hunger.  Through the coordination of the diocesan Office for Social Concerns, our support helps furnish resources to parishes during the opioid crisis in our communities, and the office’s prison ministry program provides spiritual support to prisoners during their incarceration. The diocese also helps support the St. Peregrine Fund, which addresses the unmet needs of cancer patients and their families. 
Diocesan coordination with the Catholic Campaign for Human Development promotes “educating the non-poor in our parishes to effect a growth in compassion and a sensitivity to the needs of those in want.”
The Bishop’s Annual Appeal also helps support the Women’s Care Center, which provides assistance and education to women facing unplanned and challenging pregnancies.  And as always, the Appeal promotes and supports the education of our seminarians and deacons, as well as the children in our Parish Schools of Religion and our Catholic schools.
These are a few of the many ministries and programs you help to support through a gift to the Bishop’s Annual Appeal.  It is in good stewardship that we are “Living the Gospel in Faith, Hope, and Charity” – the Appeal’s slogan for this year.
If you have not given your gift to the Bishop’s Annual Appeal, please consider doing so and know that whatever you give will be used for good purposes.  Any amount received above an individual parish’s goal will be returned to the parish to be used for its particular needs. Please know that Bishop Campbell appreciates your generosity in the support of this worthy cause.
Additional information about the 2017 Bishop’s Annual Appeal is available from the diocesan Office of Development and Planning at (614) 241-2550 or toll-free at (877) 241-2550, by emailing devmailbox@columbuscatholic.org, or by logging on to www.colscatholic.org.