Even though the pandemic is entering its second year, Catholic Arkansas Sharing Appeal had another successful year meeting its goal.

Diocesan development director Dianne Brady said the diocese surpassed its $2 million goal in 2021 by $52,191. The goal was also met in 2020.

Brady said CASA will kick off at all Masses Feb. 5-6 with a video/audio homily from Bishop Anthony B. Taylor. Ahead of the kickoff, the development office mailed a 12-page bilingual newspaper and donation envelope to each registered household detailing the diocesan offices supported by CASA.

The theme for this year’s diocesan appeal is “Building the Kingdom.”

“We are hoping that ‘Building the Kingdom’ (newspaper) will do just that by giving Catholics a better understanding of where their money is going and supporting in our diocese,” Brady said.

She said 5,474 supporters gave an average donation of $199 in 2021. That average was up 14 percent over 2020.

As in years past, parishioners are encouraged to fill out a pledge card and make a one-time gift or a pledge over the next 10 months by check, credit card or cash. The campaign ends Dec. 31.

Each family is asked to pledge 1 percent of their annual gross (pre-tax) income.

CASA helps pay for dozens of programs and ministries, including:

• Diocesan ministries, $550,000: The CASA newspaper details the offices that Bishop Taylor oversees to serve Catholics across Arkansas.
• St. John Center renovations, $575,000: The diocese uses the funds for improvements to the buildings on the campus of the former St. John Seminary. The center is home to diocesan offices, a retreat and meeting center and apartments for retired priests.
• Parish and mission support, $120,000: Salaries and expenses for some priests and religious are paid with CASA funds. These ministers serve in financially challenged mission churches.
• Youth and campus ministry, $230,000: The Youth and Campus Ministry Office organizes programs and retreats for students in junior high to college. The office offers scholarships to teens and young adults unable to afford the events.
• Grants to Catholic schools, $100,000: The Office of Catholic Schools gives grants to schools in need to buy educational equipment and materials.
• Grants to faith formation programs, $100,000: The Office of Faith Formation gives grants to parish religious education programs for new programs and supplies.
• Seminarian expenses, $75,000: CASA pays for a portion of the seminary tuition and living expenses for 25 diocesan seminarians.
• Catholic Charities of Arkansas, $100,000: The ministry assists people in need through its programs, including Catholic Immigration Services and a refugee resettlement program.
• Catholic Adoption Services, $50,000: For more than 37 years, the agency has provided a full range of professional adoption services. 

For more information, call (501) 664-0340 or visit dolr.org/casa.

With vows of chastity and obedience, the priests of Arkansas have given their lives for the spiritual nourishment of the Church. 

The Diocese of Little Rock asks the faithful to remember all the priests who have served the state and donate to a special Christmas collection in all parishes across Dec. 24-25 to support the Clergy Welfare Fund, which provides care for retired and infirm priests.

“The main purpose is to care for and show our appreciation to our priests who spent their lives serving in our parishes,” said Greg Wolfe, diocesan finance director.

When priests are ordained, they are either a member of a religious order or a local diocese, which is responsible for them until they die. For example, if they are at Subiaco Abbey, the abbot has a responsibility to take care of the brother or priest. If he is ordained for a diocese, then the bishop is responsible for them, Wolfe said. 

The Clergy Welfare Fund takes care of the needs of aging priests who no longer serve at a parish, as well as those who become ill and cannot perform their priestly duties. This includes providing living arrangements, meals, health care, transportation and end-of-life care.

“If they have to go into a nursing home, which is the most expensive thing — it can run up to $6,000 a month — the fund pays for it,” Wolfe said. “Sometimes we have someone in a nursing home. One year we had three people in a nursing home, so you just never know how much of an expenditure we’re going to face.”

Currently, the diocese is supporting 17 retired priests, who are known as senior priests. 

Wolfe described funding for the fund as a three-legged stool. Diocesan priests do not have individual retirement accounts. Instead, the diocese puts part of their salaries into the fund, which is overseen by a governing board and is audited annually by an outside accounting firm. Additional income is generated from interest collected from $20 million invested in stocks and bonds. 

The final contribution is money donated during the Christmas collection. The collection is always the most popular collection in the diocese. In 2019 Catholics donated $521,686, and in 2020 it was $511,239.

“We need the Christmas Collection to cover the expenses for the retired priests,” Wolfe said. “In one year, it takes all of that. It takes those three things, the billings to the parishes, the investment earnings and a good strong donation at Christmas. All of that money goes into Clergy Welfare.” 

While the diocese reserves funds for priests who are sick, Wolfe said 95 percent of the money is spent on senior priests.

Many of the diocese’s senior priests choose to live at St. John Manor, which is located on the two upper floors of Fitzgerald Hall on the St. John Center campus in Little Rock. Each has an apartment with a living room, bedroom and private bathroom. They eat their meals in a communal dining room and have a shared living room to watch TV, read and play a game of pool.

There are six senior priests currently living at the manor, with more expected to join soon, said Marc Rios, Fitzgerald Hall’s resident manager, who runs the facility with his wife, Tracy, and Father Warren Harvey, who is also chaplain at St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock.

“My main responsibility is to make sure the priests are taken care of,” said Rios, who is a member of the diaconate formation to be ordained in 2022. “For me, it is a ministry. They’ve given their lives to the diocese, so it’s a joy for me to give some of that back to them. We owe that much to make sure that they live out the rest of their life in health, peace and happiness.”

Father Harvey and the Rioses live at the manor and call it a blessing to serve those who have served the Church.

“At dinner one time when we had all our (senior) priests here, we counted all the years of service these priests have given, and it was almost 500 years. That's half a millennium of service to the Lord,” Rios said. “I started tearing up thinking about it. It’s pretty powerful, man. You know, when I look and I see these wrinkled, old hands I see Christ’s hands. I’m thinking how many thousands of times they lifted up the Lord in consecration, you know? It’s impactful to think about what they’ve given, and they still are giving.”

While he said nothing can be taken for granted, Rios believes the faithful will give generously to care for the retired pastors.

“Catholics of Arkansas take care of their priests,” he said. “They couldn’t be taken care of if it wasn’t for the generosity of the diocese, of the people of Arkansas.”

Rios said life at the manor is not extravagant.

“They’re very grateful to have somewhere to live,” he said. “A lot of these priests have nothing. As diocesan priests, they don't have their own furniture. When they move from parish to parish, it’s all provided for them. So, they don’t amass or accumulate a lot of physical property. Sometimes they just come here with just the clothes they have and a few items, so we're able to provide them a fully furnished apartment, someone to take care of their laundry, someone to feed them, someone to clean their apartments. And they’re very grateful.”

Father Ed Graves, 80, is one of the residents. He still celebrates Mass almost every day for the Missionaries of Charity and Carmelite sisters and, on occasion, fills in for a pastor at a parish. While he said he doesn’t have the stamina to run a parish, he said living at the manor allows him to still serve in limited capacities.

“I'm still involved in active ministry, but most of our older priests are not,” Father Graves said. 

For years, he planned to retire and live in Memphis with his sister but instead chose to live at the manor. 

“This is more conducive,” he said. “I’ve always believed that priests need other priests for support. It’s good to have a place where you can come together with the people of a like-mind. It’s better than being all by yourself. It’s a Godsend to us.”

Father Graves also spends his days sketching, painting, playing his guitar and socializing with his brother priests.

Rios said the interaction they have is essential to their health and happiness.

“I’ve seen in my pastoral work that once someone elderly gets put into hospice or into a retirement home situation where maybe they don't have that group interaction, they start going downhill really quick,” he said. “Here they have the camaraderie, and Father Harvey, myself and my wife to make sure that there's always interaction. The bishop comes over for lunch most days, and his presence tells us that they're not forgotten. That’s absolutely great. They don't ever feel alone.”

While people aren't in the pews, the Catholic Communication Campaign collection will still be taken up as planned May 16-17. Catholics are encouraged to make an electronic gift through their parish or drop off or mail their donation to their parish before May 17. 

Half of the collection stays in the Diocese of Little Rock to support critical communications ministries, including Arkansas Catholic print and digital newspaper, newspaper and diocesan websites, newsletter, directory and podcast. 

With support from previous CCC collections, the diocese has been able to offer most of its content for free. More than 5,000 digital subscriptions have been given to parishioners at no charge. The diocesan website, dolr.org. is updated daily with listings of online Masses and free resources during the pandemic. 

Since March 15 Bishop Anthony B. Taylor has been streaming a Sunday Mass live from the House of Formation on Facebook and YouTube.

Parishioners can also get updates from the free aSpire newsletter and social media sites including Instagram and Twitter.

For Catholics unable to give through their parish, online gifts can be made directly to the diocese through a secure website.

For more information, contact Arkansas Catholic at (501) 664-0125 or through the website.

In response to the loss the life, destruction of property and catastrophic flooding that Hurricane Harvey has unleashed on south Texas and Louisiana, Bishop Anthony B. Taylor is asking parishioners in the Diocese of Little Rock to donate to a nationwide emergency collection to be taken up at all Masses this weekend, Sept. 2-3.

The Category 4 hurricane made landfall Aug. 25 with heavy rains and winds of 130 miles per hour in the Rockport, Texas area, northeast of Corpus Christi. The National Weather Service said Aug. 27 that the rainfall after the hurricane and storm "are beyond anything experienced before," according to Catholic News Service. The most affected areas are in the Diocese of Victoria and the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, where thousands of people have evacuated flooded homes and communities and remain in emergency shelters across the region.

The funds collected in this one-time special appeal for Hurricane Harvey Relief will be used to support the efforts of Catholic Charities USA, the official domestic relief agency of the U.S. Catholic Church, as they and their member agencies respond to immediate emergency needs for necessities such as water, food, shelter and medical care as well as to the long term needs to rebuild and recover after widespread destruction, and of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for pastoral and reconstruction aid to the Church.

Bishop Taylor released the following letter Aug. 29 regarding the collection:

Dear friends,

Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the Texas coast August 25 and has since caused catastrophic devastation to people’s lives and livelihoods. This incredibly destructive storm has been called “historic” and “unprecedented” for its 130 mph winds and excessive rainfall measured in feet.

We have all seen the images of people wading through high flood waters, some holding tight to loved ones or pets, homes and businesses under water and heroic rescue efforts by first responders and volunteers. And tragically lives have been lost. Seeing these moving images compel us to want to do something.

While we all cannot travel to Texas to provide aid firsthand, we can help those in need by giving generously to a special collection that will be taken up at this Mass and at all the Masses this weekend in our diocese. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops will use this emergency collection “both to support the humanitarian and recovery efforts of Catholic Charities USA and to provide pastoral and rebuilding support to impacted Catholic dioceses.”

There are thousands of people in Texas who have been displaced and must depend on the generosity and love of their brothers and sisters in Christ. And we in Arkansas know all too well what they are facing as the long-term recovery process because of our own rebuilding experiences after tornados and flooding.

Let us commit to lift up in our prayers those who face a daunting recovery effort, especially that they not lose hope. May they be sustained by God’s love through good people like yourselves who care about them. And I thank you for your generosity and prayers.

Yours in Christ,

+Anthony B. Taylor

Bishop of Little Rock

Queridos amigos:

El Huracán Harvey azotó la costa de Texas el 25 de agosto y desde entonces ha causado devastaciones catastróficas en las vidas de las personas. Esta tormenta increíblemente destructible ha sido categorizada como “histórica” y “sin precedentes” debido a sus vientos de 130 mph y la cantidad excesiva de lluvia medida en pies.

Todos hemos visto las imágenes de personas cruzando a través de zonas inundadas, algunas aferrándose firmemente a sus seres queridos o mascotas, hogares y empresas bajo el agua, y los heroicos esfuerzos de rescate por los socorristas y voluntarios. Y trágicamente se han perdido vidas. Ver estas imágenes conmovedoras nos obliga a querer hacer algo.

Aunque no todos podemos viajar a Texas para ofrecer ayuda personalmente, podemos ayudar a aquellas personas necesitadas contribuyendo generosamente a una colecta especial que se tomará en esta Misa y en todas las Misas este fin de semana en nuestra diócesis. La Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos utilizará esta colecta de emergencia “tanto para apoyar los esfuerzos humanitarios y de recuperación de Caridades Católicas USA como para proveer apoyo pastoral y de reconstrucción a las diócesis católicas impactadas”.

Hay miles de personas en Texas que han sido evacuadas y tienen que depender de la generosidad y el amor de sus hermanos y hermanas en Cristo. Aquí en Arkansas sabemos muy bien lo que ellos enfrentarán en el proceso de recuperación a largo plazo debido a nuestras propias experiencias de reconstrucción tras los tornados e inundaciones.

Comprometámonos a orar por aquellos que están enfrentando la difícil tarea de recuperación, especialmente para que no pierdan la esperanza. Que el amor de Dios los sostenga a través de buenas personas como ustedes que se preocupan por ellos. Les agradezco por su generosidad y oraciones.

Suyo en Cristo,

+Anthony B. Taylor

Obispo de Little Rock

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor announced Jan. 6 that all parishes are encouraged to take up a special collection during Masses Jan. 9-10 or Jan. 16-17 for victims of the recent storms and flooding. 

The bishop has asked that the following letter be read at all Masses.

"A one-time special collection is being taken up in all the parishes in our diocese and across the country for the humanitarian and Church needs from the storms and flooding that began in December and are expected to continue this year. Your contributions will assist Catholic Charities USA, the official domestic relief agency of the U.S. Catholic Church, and its member agencies, including our own Catholic Charities of Arkansas, to respond to immediate emergency needs such as water, food, shelter and medical care and to the long-term recovery needs such as rebuilding homes.

"A portion of the collection will also be used by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for the pastoral and reconstruction needs of the Church. People who are poor will have the greatest losses, and we know from experience that their best chance for recovery will require the charity of others. It is a blessing for them that the Catholic community, especially within our diocese, has a long and faithful tradition of responding to their needs with great generosity.

"In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, on behalf of those who need our help, I ask you to please be as generous as you can in contributing to this collection.

"Thank you for your support and I assure you and your family of my prayers. And let us join Pope Francis in his prayer for the victims of the severe weather and natural disasters, 'May the Lord give comfort to all these peoples and may fraternal solidarity aid them in their need.'"

Donations can also be mailed to Finance Office, Disaster Relief, Diocese of Little Rock, P.O. Box 7565, Little Rock, AR 72217-7565

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Parishes in the Diocese of Little Rock will take a collection Sept. 13-14 for humanitarian needs and pastoral support for Christians and other victims of violence in the Middle East.

The president of the U.S. bishops’ conference Aug. 19 asked Catholic bishops across the country to take up a special collection.

Amid the ongoing crisis in what is “the cradle of Christianity,” the Catholic Church “mourns the terrible suffering of Christians and other innocent victims of violence in Iraq, Syria and Gaza who are struggling to survive, protect their children and live with dignity in dire conditions,” said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky.

Emphasizing “the extraordinary nature of this crisis,” he urged the bishops to have parishes in their dioceses hold the collection the weekend of Sept. 6-7 or Sept. 13-14 and to send the contributions as soon as possible to the Office of National Collections at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington.

Funds from the collection will be used by Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops’ overseas relief and development organization, and other Catholic agencies “working in partnership with the local church” to meet the most urgent humanitarian needs of people in the three countries, he said in a letter to his fellow bishops.

The agencies also will use the money to help refugees who have fled Iraq, Syria and Gaza to neighboring countries.

“Our Christian brothers and sisters and other innocent victims of the violence in the Middle East urgently need the assistance of the Catholic community of the United States,” Archbishop Kurtz said.

CRS and other agencies “have well-established partnerships with the Catholic Church in the region which allow them to respond quickly and efficiently to victims.