Bishops vote to create ad hoc committee to aid church in Africa

Published: 2004-11-16

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- After a lengthy discussion earlier in the day Nov. 15 about how to tighten up expenditures and narrow the focus of some of their efforts, the U.S. bishops did not hesitate to overwhelmingly approve a request to create an ad hoc committee to aid the church in Africa. In a 213-15 vote, the bishops on the first day of their annual meeting in Washington agreed to create the committee to collect and distribute contributions to aid the church in Africa, using existing staff and resources from a handful of offices to manage the effort. The ad hoc committee would create and manage a "Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa," that would be funded from voluntary diocesan collections, gifts and other sources. Staff support would be provided from Catholic Relief Services, Migration and Refugee Services, the Secretariat for African-American Catholics, the Office of International Justice and Peace and the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. The Office of International Justice and Peace would coordinate the effort, said Bishop John H. Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla., chairman of the Committee on International Policy.

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