The annual collection enables the Pope to respond with emergency financial aid to the needy throughout the world, including those who suffer from war and natural disasters.
Scheduled for the Sunday nearest the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, this year’s collection will be held in most U.S. parishes on June 25-26.
In a letter to diocesan directors of communication, Archbishop John Vlazny, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on the Economic Concerns of the Holy See, explained the origin of the theme for this year’s collection.
He recalled that last year, at a Mass on the solemnity of the Assumption, «Pope John Paul II urged us to follow Mary’s example, calling us to serve with trust and joy.» The new Pope Benedict XVI continues the work of his predecessors, the prelate noted.
«The power of love is expressed in the unassuming quietness of daily service,» the archbishop said. «Through works of charity, Catholics provide a quiet but powerful witness of love and deeds to empower the weak, the defenseless, and the voiceless, and to sustain those who suffer.»
