Collection aids Catholic college

A collection to be taken up at Masses in all parishes of the Albany Diocese this weekend will benefit the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. 

The only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. bishops and chartered by the Vatican, CUA is the national university of the Catholic Church in America. 

In a pulpit letter read in parishes, Bishop Howard J. Hubbard said that CUA "belongs to all of us" and "has a special responsibility to educate future leaders for our Church and for our nation."

That education includes undergraduate, graduate, professional and doctoral degrees in more than 50 disciplines, from canon (Church) law to theology and philosophy. Alumni work in administration for dioceses and other religious institutions, in ecclesiastical tribunals and in other Church ministries.

Financial aid enables CUA to offer $3,000 parish scholarships to more than 1,000 incoming freshmen each year and to fund campus ministry programs. Through these programs, students volunteer for service projects to build houses for the needy, work in homeless shelters and tutor at-risk children.

About one-fourth of the student body comes from New York and other mid-Atlantic states. Bishop Hubbard pointed out that contributions to the collection "directly benefit students from all over the United States, including our own Diocese.

"The financial sacrifices required of Catholic parents today to provide a truly Catholic college education are enormous," he stated. "All of the funds received through this collection help defray these costs in the form of financial aid."

The Bishop urged Catholics in the Albany Diocese to give as generously as possible to the special collection for CUA and other Catholic institutions of higher education, which he called "a most worthwhile educational initiative.

"Again, I am grateful for your continual generosity," he concluded.

(9/25/08)