Collection helps Pope aid needy worldwide

BY PAT PASTERNAK
STAFF WRITER

Echoing the theme of Pope Benedict XVI's apostolic journey to the United States in April, the U.S. bishops chose the theme "Christ is Our Hope" for this year's Collection for the Works of the Holy Father, also known as "Peter's Pence."

The annual collection will be taken up in parishes of the Albany Diocese on July 26-27. Last weekend, a pulpit letter from Bishop Howard J. Hubbard was read at parishes, explaining why Catholics should contribute.

Each year, Catholics are asked to donate to the Peter's Pence collection as a way to help the Pope provide emergency financial assistance to the needy around the world, especially to victims of war, oppression, disease and natural disasters.

Bishop Hubbard noted that this year's theme reflects the message of Pope Benedict's encyclical "Spe Salvi": that "faith in Christ brings well-founded hope in eternal salvation, the 'great hope' that can sustain people through the trials of the world."

The collection officially dates back to the 1860s, but has its roots in ninth-century England when the king collected money from landowners in order to financially support the charitable works of the pope.

Catholic contributions to the Peter's Pence collection connect them to this centuries-old tradition, the bishop explained: for instance, in 2007, U.S. dioceses raised more than $1.6 million, a six-percent increase from the previous year's tally.

Over the years, the collection has helped to expand the Holy See's charitable actions for those in need.

"As we participate in this special appeal, we join Catholics worldwide in a loving expression of solidarity," the Bishop wrote. "We share in the concern of the successor of Peter for the many different needs of the universal Church and for the relief of those most in need around the globe.

"I ask you to consider contributing to the collection this year, and I am grateful for your generosity. Together, let us ask the Lord to bless the Holy Father and us as well as those in need throughout the world."

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