2012 Bishops’ Collection for the Needs of the Church in Canada

Wednesday, August 22 2012

(CCCB – Ottawa)… The Collection for the Needs of the Church in Canada will be held in parishes across the country on September 29 and 30, 2012. The Collection was established by the Bishops of Canada in 1975. It supports the work the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) by assisting dioceses to pay their annual per capita assessment to the CCCB. Any funds raised in excess of the assessed amount are available to the diocese for its own purposes.

In order to help parishes, Church media and diocesan communications services promote the Collection, the CCCB is making available an electronic version of the promotional kit on its website, www.cccb.ca. The electronic kit includes the following documents:

• Letter from the Most Reverend Richard Smith, Archbishop of Edmonton and President of the CCCB;
• Two articles for publication in parish bulletins;
• A brief overview of CCCB 2011-2012 projects; and
• The CCCB logo.

In his letter to parishes, Archbishop Smith points out that “there are many meaningful events taking place this fall in the Catholic Church: the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization, the canonization of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, as well as the launching of the Year of Faith by Pope Benedict XVI.  In this context of joy and celebration, the Bishops of Canada are calling on the generosity of the faithful to ensure the success of the Collection for the Needs of the Church in Canada.”

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is the national assembly of the Bishops of Canada. It was founded in 1943 and officially recognized by the Holy See in 1948. After the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), the CCCB became part of a worldwide network of Episcopal Conferences, established in 1965 as an integral part of the life of the universal Church.