As we continue the celebration of the joyous Easter season, we are reminded once again about the essential missionary nature of the Church. In today’s Gospel, we hear the risen Lord call Peter to “feed my lambs” and “tend my sheep.” This is the essential work of the Church – to care for the flock Jesus has entrusted to us. We are all aware of the need for continuing this work even today, which includes constant missionary outreach. But ordinarily, when we think of the Mission Church, we think of Africa or Asia or the Middle East. Most Catholics don’t realize that the Church in the United States has many missionary areas as well. An area is designated to be missionary as long as it cannot sustain itself either financially or with its own clergy. In fact, all of North America was considered to be mission territory until 1910 – that’s just a little over one hundred years ago! And, there are 85 dioceses in the United States – 42% of all our dioceses – that are still categorized as mission dioceses today. These dioceses rely on financial aid from the universal Church to provide funding to keep their parishes and schools open, to support their clergy and to train their seminarians. Without this support, they would not be able to fulfill Christ’s mandate to “go to the ends of the earth and proclaim the gospel to all people”.
One of these mission dioceses is El Paso, located in western Texas. The city of El Paso is home to more than 800,000 people; the majority are Catholic. And, the diocese extends far beyond this city, encompassing nine rural, sparsely populated counties. The region is deeply Catholic and the faith is strong. In fact, Catholics make up 80% of the population. It is a serious challenge for the diocese to keep up with the needs of its people and pastoral resources strain to meet the needs of parishioners. The Diocese of El Paso covers almost 26,686 square miles. Of the 972,000 inhabitants, 778,000 are Catholic. There are 57 parishes, 93 active priests and 118 women religious. By comparison, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia covers 2,202 square miles. Of a total population of 4.1 million, 1.4 million are Catholic. We have 216 parishes, 432 active priests and 2,387 religious sisters.
Many of the Catholics in the Diocese of El Paso are Hispanics who trace their lineage to Mexico and other countries in Central America. The Church is a central aspect of their lives; sacramental rites and feast days are often celebrated as neighborhood and, indeed, community events. But, western Texas is economically challenged so the Diocese of El Paso relies heavily on Catholic Home Missions funds to support its ministry. With your contributions to the Home Missions Appeal, the diocese is able to provide liturgical and educational opportunities for these people through priests who offer the Eucharist and other sacraments, as well as lay ministers who provide catechesis. Your generosity brings Christ’s message of love, compassion and reconciliation to this often forgotten population.
Another community in the mission church in America that benefits from the Catholic Home Missions is the Eastern Catholic Church, served by various eparchies (equivalent to a diocese in the Latin Church). For example, the Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg, which is headquartered in Glendale, California, serves all of the Armenian Catholics in the United States and Canada. It is one of 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in full union with the Latin Church. You have probably heard of the Byzantine, Maronite and Ukrainian Churches; these have larger congregations and are more familiar in this area. The smaller Armenian Catholic Eparchy covers eight million square miles, has eight parishes (one of them, St. Mark’s, is in nearby Wynnewood), 10 active priests and nine religious women. It operates four elementary schools. Again, one of them, the Armenian Sisters Academy, is close by in Radnor. The Catholic Home Missions supports the Armenian Catholic Church throughout Canada and the United States because so many of its members are refugees.
The Armenian Catholic Church has ancient roots but has suffered greatly through the ages. In 301AD, Armenia was the first sovereign nation to accept Christianity as its state religion. Then, it was suppressed for more than 600 years under the Ottoman Empire. Since the late 19th century, the Armenians have suffered from genocide and severe oppression. It was during that time that Armenian Catholics began arriving in North America; there are now approximately 45,000 Armenian Catholics here. Catholic Home Missions helps to provide religious education, evangelization and lay ministry training programs throughout the eparchy.
Please remember the very diverse needs of all in the mission Church, such as the Diocese of El Paso and the Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg, when you participate in the Catholic Home Missions collection this week and be as generous as possible. In this way, you will again respond to our risen Lord who calls us to continue his mission of sharing God’s love here and around the world!