" … The nine-year history of this Drive has demonstrated its importance to the Archdiocese and, also, your desire to participate in the growth of the Church in this area. Your generosity has allowed us to care for our needs and responsibilities in areas of social services, pastoral care, and religious formation. Your spirit, blending love with sacrifice, has enabled us to make tangible the love of Christ, and to witness our faith in a concrete way.

"We can be proud of what we have accomplished together. But we are a Pilgrim Church. Thus, we must move and grow and find meaning not only in what we have done, but also in what we can do today and in the future to shoulder the tasks which we undertake as followers of Christ…"

-- Archbishop Donnellan

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" … We have moved from being cellar dwellers into a comfortable position at the top. The statistics show that Catholics are now the third largest denomination in Georgia.

"In 10 years we have opened 14 new parishes, all energetically alive. And more are in the hopper. New vigor -- yes. But new needs also. The expanding Church means expanding service. That's why our Drive of Charity is important -- more -- is vital…"

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" … A fundamental reason for the existence of Rural Social Services is the belief that ministerial involvement at the grassroots level with the economically poor is a necessary component and primary arena of work for social justice…"

" … The small Catholic Communities are simply that: they are small. As small - but vibrant and vital Catholic Churches -- their needs are greater and their resources are fewer. They know that they are a part of the whole excitement of Catholic Christianity by the signs and the care that all of us together bring to them. The distances they travel are great, and you will recall Father Tom Scanlon's letter to the editor a few weeks ago that honestly communicated that the travel is still not always easy.

"Our annual Charities drive is an important sign to the small parishes that are outside metro Atlanta that we care. Just as their gift in the Drive supports programs for the Atlanta metro area, our gift in the Drive supports their programs in the towns and in the country … "

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" … The Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta covers 71 counties encompassing 22,137 square miles, but only three percent of the population in this area is Catholic. Despite its minority status, the Church has made its presence felt. One way that the Church is serving the population of this area is through the programs and functions of Catholic Social Services, Inc. … "