Office for World Mission Announces Grant from The Catholic Community Foundation
Grant to Support Efforts in Sister Parish in the Dominican Republic.
MILWAUKEE, WIS. – The Milwaukee Archdiocesan Office for World Mission (Office for World Mission), part of World Mission Ministries, is pleased to announce the receipt of a $30,000 grant from The Catholic Community Foundation to support efforts in La Sagrada Familia Parish in the Dominican Republic.
La Sagrada Familia (The Holy Family) Parish is the sister parish of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, and the Office for World Mission has facilitated this relationship on behalf of the Archdiocese since 1981. Later this year, the Office for World Mission will announce plans to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the partnership with La Sagrada Familia.
The Office for World Mission works with the staff of the parish, which includes two Archdiocesan priests and a pastoral staff and dozens of volunteers from the region. The current pastors are Fr. Javier Guativa, of the Community of St. Paul, and Fr. Thomas Naidu. In addition to nurturing the spiritual needs of the parish through evangelization, catechesis, the celebration of the sacraments in every village, prayer groups, adult and youth formation and leadership training, the priests and staff strive to address the various material needs of parishioners. These include providing access to healthcare, educational resources, job training, micro-loan programs, clean water, and emergency support.
The grant from The Catholic Community Foundation will help the office to provide support for La Sagrada Familia to assist in feeding the hungry, supporting the children and their education, and providing shelter and care for the sick.
Since 2001, The Catholic Community Foundation has supported effective philanthropy in Southeastern Wisconsin. As a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation, the Foundation is independent of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Their board of directors includes Catholic religious and community leaders. The Foundation was established to serve the needs of individuals and families who wish to provide lasting support to those Catholic causes they care most about. Donors can make a gift of at least $25,000 to establish a separate fund from which grants are awarded annually to support those causes that are dear to them--causes that ultimately advance the mission of the Church. The Foundation focuses on four priority areas: education; leadership development; health care for the under-served in Milwaukee; and community-building to strengthen families, parishes and those suffering from poverty, discrimination, and violence.
Antoinette Mensah, Ph.D., director of the Office for World Mission, shared her thoughts about the grant, saying: “During this Covid-19 pandemic, this grant award helps shore up these good works and provide support for some of the hardest hit areas in our 22 community parish in the Dominican Republic. We appreciate The Catholic Community Foundation for considering the importance of missionary activity in the global church. We are reminded of the opening paragraph of Pope Francis’s encyclical Fratelli Tutti, which calls us to consider a love that transcends the barriers of geography and distance and declares blessed all those who love their brother ‘as much when he is far away from him as when he is with him.’ This grant enables us to show this love and concern for our brothers and sisters who are far away in the Dominican Republic as we connect this ministry to our brothers and sisters who are near to us in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.”
For more information about La Sagrada Familia or the Office for World Mission, please visit www.archmil.org/offices/world-mission.htm
For more information on the Catholic Community Foundation, visit legaciesoffaith.org
XXXX
Support of La Sagrada Familia Parish is a ministry of the Office for World Mission, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3), part of World Mission Ministries. For more information, contact us at wmo@archmil.org or 414-758-2280.