Peter’s Pence Collection
My Dear Parishioners,
Happy Father’s Day! Today we honor and thank our dads. Too often, we take them for granted. Today we will close our intercessions with a special blessing for our fathers. Your Father’s Day envelopes with your intentions written on them will stay on the reredos (back altar) for the rest of the month of June. It is appropriate that they are there at the base of the statue of St. Joseph, the patron of all fathers. We thank our fathers for giving us what we need to become the people God calls us to be.
The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops is celebrating its annual religious freedom week (formerly known as the “Fortnight for Freedom”) from June 22 thru June 29, 2023. Its title is “Embracing the Divine Gift of Freedom.” Beginning June 22nd, the feast of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher, through June 29th, the USCCB invites Catholics to pray, reflect, and act to promote religious freedom. More information can be found at www.usccb.org/ReligiousFreedomWeek.
This week we are taking up a second collection for The Holy Father’s Peter’s Pence. Archbishop Pérez asked that this letter be published in conjunction with the collection.
God Bless You!
Fr. Bordonaro
June 2023
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The annual Peter’s Pence Collection helps Pope Francis provide relief for victims of war, oppression, and natural disaster around the world and supports the various activities of the Holy See.
In August 2021, a powerful earthquake devastated the small island nation of Haiti. More than 2,000 people were killed, 12,000 were injured, and 300 were missing. Then widespread damage to houses and other structures was worsened by a tropical storm that hit the island shortly afterward. The needs were varied and urgent. Pope Francis donated €200,000 through the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Those funds supported immediate emergency relief efforts to those most in need.
The Holy Father’s response to Haiti is just one example of how the Peter’s Pence Collection impacts the lives of those struggling to survive. To learn more about how this collection supports the Holy Father’s ministry and his works of mercy, visit http://www.usccb.org/catholic-giving/opportunities-forgiving/peters-pence (English) or https://www.obolodisanpietro.va/es/cos-e-l-obolo.html
Please consider supporting this year’s Peter’s Pence Collection as an act of mercy and charity. Let’s join our brothers and sisters in faith from around the globe and help Pope Francis to carry out his ministry to the Universal Church and reach out to the most marginalized in our world. Thank you and may God bless you abundantly.
Sincerely in Christ,
+Most Reverend Nelson J. Pérez, D.D.
Archbishop of Philadelphia