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PARMA, Ohio — The Eparchy of Parma has been awarded a total of $125,000 from Catholic Home Missions for three specified areas of pastoral ministry in 2018.
Catholic Home Missions (CHM) is a subcommittee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, established as a grant-making agency to assist dioceses, eparchies and religious organizations in their missionary and evangelical activities. Grant recipients are generally unable to meet the pastoral needs of their faithful without outside help.
Of the $125,000, the largest sum, $60,000, was granted to Horizons and communications; $40,000 was granted for the Byzantine Catholic Cultural Center; and $25,000 was granted as aid to missions and outreaches, as well as to the Shrine of Our Lady of Mariapoch in Burton, Ohio.
Each program that was awarded funds received the full amount requested in the grant application.
To receive the full grant request, is “affirmation that the eparchy is developing positive programs and promoting growth and vibrancy,” said John Popp, administrator of the Byzantine Catholic Cultural Center.
Popp met with members of the CHM granting committee Oct. 11, when they stopped by the chancery for an informal visit.
The visitors included five bishops and CHM Director Richard Coll. Popp spoke with them about the various initiatives in the eparchy in 2017, made possible due to CHM funding.
For instance, CHM funds allocated to the Byzantine Catholic Cultural Center in 2017 contributed toward the center’s participation at The FEST in Cleveland, the production of the popular online cooking show, “Eastern Hospitality,” the sponsorship of retreats and teen camps, and the development of an outreach program for college students.
Funds received by Horizons in 2017 contributed to the development of a new eparchial smartphone app and hiring a college student part time for app development. They covered salary and operational expenses, as well as the annual subscription to the Washington-based Catholic News Service.
The funds also covered costs related to the organization of Horizons-sponsored pilgrimages, a greater social media presence, and the start-up costs for Horizons Press, whose first publication was launched this month.
Some of the 2018 funds will contribute toward Horizons’ participation in the Catholic News Archive, a searchable digital national repository of Catholic newspapers, available to scholars and other interested readers. Two dedicated volunteers worked to digitize all of the past issues of Horizons in 2016 and 2017.
Caption: The Shrine of Our Lady of Mariapoch in Burton, Ohio, is among the beneficiaries of a Catholic Home Missions grant for 2018. (Photo: Reen Nemeth)
As published in Horizons, Dec. 24, 2017.
