The annual collection for ecclesiastical and pontifical charities will take place this weekend, the 4th Sunday of Lent. As you know, 75% of all donations goes to the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund with the remaining 25% being retained by the Archdiocesan Care Fund.
I encourage our parishioners to be particularly generous this year, in order to assist SCIAF with their work in East Africa, where the local population are presently suffering due to famine, a humanitarian crisis that is being described as the worst since 1945.
A letter from both Bishop Joseph Toal of Motherwell, Bishop President of SCIAF
We are now in the fourth week of Lent and SCIAF’s Wee Box appeal is well underway. We feel people’s warmth and support for our work, and the strength of their prayers for the people we serve.
The Wee Box appeal during Lent is SCIAF’s main time for fundraising in the liturgical year. The income we get from the Wee Box appeal is essential for us to maintain our long-term development work in countries year after year. The 4th Sunday collection for SCIAF and the money we receive from parishes in Lent are a large part of this income.
At the same time, you will no doubt have seen the media coverage of the dreadful famines in East Africa. This is only the second time famine has been declared in the 21st Century, and with a million people in danger of starvation and over 20 million people in urgent need of food aid, this has been declared the worst humanitarian crisis since 1945. SCIAF is appealing to supporters to help us get food, water and other essential aid to those who urgently need it. Working with others as part of Caritas, SCIAF’s partners are already providing life-saving food and water to thousands of people in South Sudan and Ethiopia, and we will be dramatically increasing this in the coming months.
This Lent we are asking parishes, schools and groups to support Christians in the Middle East with Lent Survival Packs.
Lent Survival Packs include the essentials they need to survive - food, water, clothing and shelter.
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