National collection Aug. 26-27 to aid two hurricane-affected dioceses

Published: 2006-07-12

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The needs of two dioceses affected by Hurricane Katrina "remain staggering and extremely urgent," the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in announcing that the bishops had approved a special national collection for the weekend of Aug. 26-27. Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., said in a July 10 memo to his fellow bishops that "the needs for diocesan recovery in the Archdiocese of New Orleans and the Diocese of Biloxi (Miss.) are as great now as they were immediately after the storms which caused them." American Catholics donated more than $130 million to a national collection for victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita last September, but those funds went primarily to humanitarian relief, he said. Bishop Skylstad said the 2006 national collection -- approved by the bishops during their June meeting in Los Angeles -- would give Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes of New Orleans and Bishop Thomas J. Rodi of Biloxi "greater discretion in meeting the church's recovery and rebuilding needs within these two dioceses."

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