As the nation continued to grapple with the pandemic in 2021, Catholic faith communities in poor regions across the country strived to recover and resume their ministries after months of closed church doors and low collections.
Catholic Extension Society spent the year working in solidarity with these communities to ensure that they not only survived but were strengthened. We empowered these diverse, faith-filled communities by supporting the operational expenses of parishes, priest and sister salaries, religious education and youth programs, seminarian education, the development of local lay leaders, outreach ministries and so much more.
The photos below showcase just a few of the ways that our steadfast partnership has enriched millions of lives.
Fairbanks, Alaska
Father Stan Jaszek, a missionary priest from Poland, serves Yup’ik people who live along the coast of the Bering Sea in the Diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska. In this extremely remote area, which has no roads and requires travel by snowmachine, plane or boat, he embraces the subsistence lifestyle of the people he serves to better understand their reality and more effectively communicate the Gospel. Catholic Extension Society’s support is critical to the maintaining and strengthening the presence of the Catholic Church in Alaska, including the parishes he serves.
For this remarkable ministry, Father Jaszek was named Catholic Extension Society’s 2021-2022 Lumen Christi Award recipient. Read his story.
Melvin, Texas
Racheal Jacoby, a young mother of two, proudly stands before her community’s beloved St. Francis Xavier Mission, which Catholic Extension Society helped build in 1913. Jacoby led the massive restoration project to save the historic church, which was in desperate need of repair. She was one of this year’s seven Lumen Christi Award finalists.
“I can’t sit idle when I know that something needs to be done,” she said. Read her story.
Sodus Township, Michigan
Sister Maryud Cortés, MSDE, blesses a migrant farmworker harvesting crops in southwest Michigan. A member of the Missionary Servants of the Divine Spirit in Colombia, she arrived the Diocese of Kalamazoo in 2014 through Catholic Extension Society’s U.S.-Latin American Sisters Exchange Program. This five-year program sponsors religious sisters from Latin American congregations to serve among Latino immigrant populations in the United States. In partnership with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the program also provides the sisters pastoral training and higher education opportunities.
After earning her master’s degree and Ph.D., she remained in the United States to work with Catholic Extension Society to coordinate and support the next cohort of sisters in the program. These 44 sisters are currently ministering in 12 dioceses across the U.S.
Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota
On the Rosebud Reservation in western South Dakota, the St. Francis Mission Youth Group participated in the Lakota tribe’s parade with a float declaring how much the faith-filled group cares for the community. The vibrant youth group is led by Jenny and Ben Black Bear, who are home-grown Catholic lay leaders. The group provides a safe and nurturing environment for young people who are surrounded by the harsh realities of life on the reservation.
Catholic Extension Society has helped provide pastoral training for the Black Bears, and has supported St. Francis Mission, the enduring Catholic presence on the reservation, since 1910. See how the Black Bears, who were named finalists for this year’s Lumen Christi Award, instill values and faith among the youth.
Salina, Kansas
Father Brian McCaffrey shares a special moment with his mother on the day of his ordination to the priesthood in the Diocese of Salina, Kansas. Catholic Extension Society supported his seminarian education, along with more than 425 other men following God’s call to serve in 2021.
East St. Louis, Illinois
Sister Julia Huiskamp, DC, MSW, extends a comforting hand to a boy attending Griffin Center, a community center in poverty-stricken East St. Louis that offers summer camps and after-school programs for kids. The center, which has received support from Catholic Extension Society, serves as a light of hope to generations of children and families in this Diocese of Belleville community ever since Sister Julia founded it in 1986.
Sister Julia was a finalist for this year’s Lumen Christi Award—read her story.
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Sister María Imelda Quechol, M.A.G., checks in on a young girl who, just months earlier, had not eaten for days when her father, a single parent, became incapacitated by COVID-19. When Sister Imelda heard about the family’s situation, she rushed to their home, bringing food, water and medications—saving the father and his daughter.
Her Extension-supported ministry with Sister Eloísa Torralba Aquino, M.A.G., spans eight counties, impacting the lives of over 10,000 people. See how the sisters, named as finalists for this year’s Lumen Christi Award, bring the peace of God to the poor and forgotten of East Tennessee.
Chicago, Illinois
In September, sisters from Catholic Extension Society’s U.S.-Latin American Sisters Exchange Program traveled to Chicago for a week-long training on restorative justice at Loyola University Chicago. To conclude the course, they went out to the streets to pray for and honor the police officers who had been recently shot in the line of duty: Officer Ella French, who was killed, and Officer Carlos Yanez Jr., who was critically injured.
The sisters led a prayer for peace and an end to violence. They offered their thanks for all of our first responders who faithfully serve and protect. A Chicago Police Department chaplain gave the sisters rosaries made by a retired officer to pray with as they continue their work as peace builders in their ministries.
Hagåtña, Guam
Students perform the annual May Crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary at The Academy of Our Lady of Guam, a Catholic high school in the Archdiocese of Agaña on the Pacific island of Guam. Catholic Extension Society supports youth programs and religious education on this majority-Catholic island.
“Catholic Extension Society’s continued support makes tangible the universality of the Catholic Church, and the donors are truly making an impact in allowing our parishes to recover, adjust and invite its students and the youth of our island to be resilient in the face of challenges,” the archdiocese wrote in a note to Catholic Extension Society.
Stillwater, Oklahoma
The students and chaplain of St. John Catholic Student Center at Oklahoma State University celebrate the groundbreaking of their new church and student center. Student involvement has increased drastically in recent years, from 300 to over 700 young men and women.
The ministry is among the 130 college campus ministries in 68 dioceses supported by Catholic Extension Society in the past 10 years alone. Catholic Extension Society and the dioceses we partner with are adamantly committed to campus ministry as an investment in the future.
Related: Check out our Top 10 Photos of 2020 and 2019.
You can help communities just like these. Please donate to help us build up vibrant and transformative Catholic faith communities in the poorest regions of America.
