Many Catholics in the U.S. live in urban centers where the local parish is only a few blocks away and the congregation numbers in the hundreds.
But in states such as Mississippi, Alaska, and Montana, Catholic churches can be harder to access. Living in a rural area can mean that receiving the sacraments may involve more planning and a long drive. A rural parish or diocese may also have fewer resources and less financial support from its smaller pool of parishioners.
The Catholic Home Missions Appeal helps these dioceses and eparchies (the Eastern Catholic equivalent of dioceses) with operational costs, pastoral projects, and parish life support as well as vocations work, the USCCB noted.
These rural or financially disadvantaged dioceses that receive aid are known as “Mission Territory” and include areas in the Deep South, such as Mississippi; western regions in Texas; some parts of northern Wisconsin and Michigan; and much of the rural areas in the Pacific Northwest, according to a 2023 map by Catholic Home Missions.
Some Western and Midwestern states including New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Missouri also have regions supported by the Missions Appeal as does all of Utah.
“The faithful who live in the mission dioceses give sacrificially to support their parishes and essential ministries, despite their own limited means,” McKnight continued in the statement.
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