Founded in 1965, the collection serves as a way for Catholics in the U.S. to express their unity and solidarity with their Latin American brothers and sisters. Bishop Daniel H. Mueggenborg of Reno, Nevada, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on National Collections, said the following in a statement: “With the support of parishioners like you, the collection for the Church in Latin America helps countless poor and marginalized people experience God’s love and share it with their neighbors.”

The Black and Indian Mission Office is comprised of three distinct but inter-related organizations, each with its own purpose and history, but all seeking to fulfill the one Mission to the Missions! Founded by the Catholic bishops of the United States, each organization cooperates with local diocesan communities to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ and respond to real and pressing needs on the ground. Read more and join us in our Mission to the Missions!

CRS is the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic Church, created to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. The annual parish appeal that primarily funds this organization—as well as other U.S. bishops' migration and relief efforts—was formerly known as the American Bishops Overseas Appeal

The Catholic Communication Campaign (CCC) is the official media and technology initiative of the Catholic Church in the United States. Established by the U.S. Catholic bishops in 1979, its mission is to spread the Gospel message through modern media, including the internet, television, social networks, radio, and print publications. The campaign is funded by an annual special collection taken up in Catholic parishes, typically on the Sunday between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost (which occurred on May 17, 2026). The financial structure splits the donations evenly: 50% remains in the local diocese to fund regional communication tools, such as local diocesan newspapers, podcasts, and televised or livestreamed Masses for the homebound. 50% goes to the national office managed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). These funds are distributed as grants to support large-scale national and international media projects. The national fund provides the foundational resources for many of the digital tools U.S. Catholics interact with daily. Major projects include: Funding the hosting, maintenance, and mobile optimization of the USCCB Daily Readings webpage, which receives millions of visits for Scripture texts, audio podcasts, and daily video reflections. Catholic News Service (CNS) Rome Bureau: Providing financial backing for accurate, independent journalism covering Pope Leo XIV and the global ministry of the Vatican. Catholic Documentaries & Apps: Providing seed money for prominent faith-based media, such as the digital Liturgy of the Hours app, and television documentaries like Revolution of the Heart: The Dorothy Day Story. National Livestreams: Financing the live broadcast equipment and streaming services for the U.S. bishops’ plenary assemblies, making Church governance transparent to the public.

The Catholic Home Missions Appeal is an annual nationwide collection coordinated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Its primary goal is to provide essential financial support to financially challenged dioceses, often known as "home missions," that lack the resources to sustain basic pastoral ministries and services. The appeal supports over 40% of all dioceses in the United States and its territories, mostly located in economically distressed, rural, or geographically isolated areas. This includes parts of Appalachia, the Deep South, the Rocky Mountains, Alaska, and islands in the Pacific and Caribbean. The collected funds are distributed as grants that support essential services such as religious education, seminarian and lay ministry training, parish maintenance, and outreach to ethnic minority groups, particularly Hispanic ministries. Grants are also used for practical necessities, such as fuel for seaplanes used by priests to reach isolated island communities in Alaska, or operating Catholic schools in isolated U.S. territories.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is the official anti-poverty program of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1970 by the U.S. Catholic bishops, its main goal is to break the cycle of poverty by funding programs that help low-income people carry out projects to improve their own communities.How CCHD Works Unlike traditional charities that provide temporary aid (like food or clothing), CCHD focuses on long-term change. It uses a "hand up, not a hand out" approach.Community Development: CCHD funds organizations run by low-income people working to fix local issues, such as affordable housing, better jobs, and safe neighborhoods. Economic Development: CCHD supports businesses owned by low-income workers, like cooperatives, to create good jobs and financial stability. Education: CCHD teaches Catholics about the root causes of poverty and how Catholic Social Teaching encourages helping those in need. Catholic parishes across the United States take up a special collection for CCHD every year, usually on the weekend before Thanksgiving. 75% of the money goes to national grants for large anti-poverty projects. 25% of the money stays right in the local diocese to fund smaller, neighborhood-level projects.To get a grant, organizations must follow Catholic moral teachings. They cannot promote things that go against Church doctrine, and low-income people must make up at least one-third of the group's leadership.

The Mission Cooperative Plan (MCP)—also known as the Missionary Cooperation Plan—is an official program in the United States Catholic Church that pairs local parishes with missionaries from around the world. Devised in the late 1930s, the program acts as a centralized scheduling system. Instead of dozens of different global ministries randomly asking local pastors for donation space, the diocesan mission office handles the logistics directly. Usually during the summer months / every other year, Catholic parishes are assigned one specific missionary group to host for a single weekend. The Appeal: A visiting missionary priest, religious sister, brother, or lay minister travels to the parish to preach at all the weekend Masses. They share personal stories, updates, and the reality of daily life in their mission territory. The Collection: The parish takes up an extra collection specifically for that missionary's organization. The Distribution: The parish sends 100% of these collected funds to the local diocese, which then forwards the money directly to the visiting missionary's religious order or diocese. The Missionary Cooperation Plan serves both practical and spiritual purposes: Direct Financial Support: It funds basic global necessities, such as building clean water wells, running local clinics, supporting orphanages, and training local catechists and seminarians. Parish Awareness: It creates personal solidarity. Parishioners hear firsthand testimonies from the global Church, keeping them directly connected to the universal mission of spreading the Gospel. The groups invited to speak must apply annually and be in good standing with the Church. They typically represent: Mission Dioceses: Struggling dioceses in developing countries (frequently across Africa, Asia, and Latin America). Religious Congregations: Global orders—such as the Sisters of Notre Dame—operating schools, clinics, or food programs. Lay Organizations: Registered Catholic nonprofits providing humanitarian and spiritual aid. It gives people access to all the info they need, while keeping your layout clean.

The Ministries Appeal focuses on the shared ministries of the Diocese of Duluth that bring our mission and vision to life. Through Education & Family, Evangization & Outreach, and Vocation & Clergy Support, these ministries embody the Holy Spirit in our communites, bring people closer to Jesus Christ for healing, hope, and joy. Ultimately, the appeal aims for all to journey through Jesus to heaven and the Kingdom of God. THE MISSION LIVES NURTURING VOCATIONS, SUPPORTING SHEPHERDS [Vocation & Clergy Support] Your gift supports our Seminarians from the discernment process through ordination. It also provides care for our Current, Retired and Disabled Priests, ensuring they remain healthy—physically and mentally—to meet the evolving spiritual needs of the faithful. In addition, your generosity helps our Deacons live lives of service, assisting priests and strengthening parish communities. FORMING HEARTS, STRENGTHENING FAMILIES, BUILDING THE FUTURE [Education & Family] Your gift empowers leaders in our Catholic Schools and Youth and Young Adult Ministry to foster environments rooted in Catholic tradition while igniting young hearts for God and forming future leaders. Those in Catechesis and the OCIA program benefit from your generosity through studies that deepen their understanding of Jesus Christ and His Church. Your support also promotes the Catholic vision of marriage and family, celebrating strong, faith-filled homes REACHING HEARTS, SERVING COMMUNITIES, LIVING THE GOSPEL [Evangelization & Outreach] Your gift supports those in need through Prison, Hospital, Native American and Social Outreach programs. It strengthens our Liturgy-Divine Worship office, which provides resources for celebrating the Church’s sacred rites across the diocese. Your generosity ensures that students at the Newman Center experience a personal encounter with Christ and enables communication efforts that reach every corner of the diocese. In addition, your support allows parishes to benefit from Parish Support Services.

CRS Rice Bowl, the Lenten program of Catholic Relief Services, helps end world hunger through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. CRS Rice Bowl began during Lent 1975 in the Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, as an ecumenical response to the problem of world hunger—specifically in response to the drought in the Sahel region of Africa. Monsignor Robert Coll coordinated the effort with leaders of Allentown's Protestant and Jewish communities. CRS Rice Bowl was adopted as a national program in 1976, under the auspices of Catholic Relief Services in preparation for the 41st International Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Nearly $5 million was raised that year. In 1977, it was voted by Bishops in United States to be the official program of Catholic Relief Services.

Established by Pope Paul VI in 1974, this annual worldwide parish collection directly supports the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. Funds from the collection are distributed to help maintain holy shrines, support Christian parishes and schools, fund humanitarian assistance, and preserve a Christian presence in Jerusalem, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and surrounding Middle Eastern countries.

Peter's Pence is a worldwide annual collection that supports the Pope's mission of peace, evangelization, and charity. Funds are primarily distributed to support the global activities of the Holy See and to provide direct humanitarian aid to vulnerable communities affected by war, disasters, and poverty.The funds collected are divided into two main areas of impact:Humanitarian Assistance: Providing direct financial aid to those suffering from natural disasters, famine, war, and forced migration. This includes backing local dioceses, food programs, and housing projects for displaced people.Apostolic Mission and the Holy See: Supporting the day-to-day work of the Pope and the Vatican. This encompasses the formation of clergy, the maintenance of apostolic nunciatures (diplomatic missions), communication of the Gospel, and promoting integral human development and education.

World Mission Sunday is an annual global Catholic celebration where parishes worldwide unite in prayer and take up a collection to support over 1,100 mission dioceses. Established by Pope Pius XI in 1926, it is coordinated by the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. The funds collected are distributed globally by the Pope to assist materially poor and young churches with pastoral programs, church construction, healthcare, education, and the formation of seminarians and religious sisters.

The National Council of Catholic Women acts through its members to support, empower and educate all Catholic women in spirituality, leadership and service. NCCW programs respond with Gospel values to the needs of the Church and society in the modern world.

The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS) is a special, non-territorial diocese of the Roman Catholic Church responsible for providing spiritual care to Catholics serving in the U.S. military, their families, and veterans. Established by Pope John Paul II in 1985, it is the only Catholic diocese authorized to provide sacraments and pastoral care to members of the United States Armed Forces. Unlike standard dioceses that cover a specific geographic city or state, the AMS has global jurisdiction. It is responsible for approximately 1.8 million Catholics worldwide, including: Active-duty personnel in all branches of the military (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, and Coast Guard). Families of active-duty service members. Patients and residents in all 153 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Centers. Government employees and contractors working overseas for the federal government. The archdiocese is led by an Archbishop (currently Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio) and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. Because the archdiocese does not have its own physical parish buildings, its priests work on the ground as military chaplains. These priests are "co-sponsored," meaning they belong to a regular local diocese or religious order but are loaned to the military to serve on ships, bases, and in combat zones worldwide. Unlike traditional dioceses, the AMS receives no funding from the U.S. government or the military. Government funds pay only for standard base chapel maintenance, not the archdiocese's ministries. Furthermore, because military families move frequently, the AMS does not have regular weekly parish collections. It relies almost entirely on private donations and a special national collection taken up once every three years in U.S. Catholic parishes.