Haiti Earthquake: Your Parish May have a Second Collection this Weekend

My household doesn't do much impulse buying: or impulse giving.

In case you're the same way, and go to a Catholic church in the United States of America, here's some news:

"Cardinal George, Archbishop Dolan Urge Nationwide 2nd Collection for Haiti"
The Catholic Key Blog (January 13, 2010)

"This afternoon, USCCB President Cardinal George of Chicago and Catholic Relief Services Chair Archbishop Dolan of New York wrote the nation's bishops urging them to take up a second collection this weekend for the relief of the people of Haiti. Bishop Finn is encouraging parishes in the Diocese of Kansas City – St. Joseph to do just that, and I notice on twitter that several other dioceses are already doing the same.

"I'm informed that the 2004 Special Collection for victims of the Indonesian Tsunami was the largest in the history of this diocese, as I imagine it was elsewhere. Let's make this one bigger – These are our neighbors and their suffering is terrible.

"Please read the following letter carefully. The collection for Haiti this weekend should not be confused with the scheduled special collection for the Church in Latin America next weekend. Both should be taken up. The following was sent on the letterhead of the USCCB President:

"Your Eminence/Excellency:

"Our Church mourns the terrible suffering of our brothers and sisters in Haiti. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that ravaged Haiti on January 12, 2010 has already claimed thousands of lives including the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince. It has destroyed countless homes, churches, seminaries, schools, and other buildings and has left millions without the most basic necessities of life. Our faith compels us to pray for and reach out to our brothers and sisters in their time of suffering...."

Two links are in the letter: "Additional information on the U.S. Catholic community's response to this emergency and how U.S. Catholics can help can be found at CRS.org and USCCB.org"

That's Catholic Relief Services at CRS.org, and The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops at USCCB.org.

I've posted about yesterday's earthquake in Haiti before. Quite a bit, actually.

This second collection? I think it's a good idea.

(The Catholic Key Blog is on A Catholic Citizen in America's blogroll)

Related posts:

• "Haiti: Archbishop Dead; Aftershocks; How to Help"
  (January 13, 2010)
• "Haiti Earthquake: A Few News Videos"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (January 13, 2010)
• "Haiti: News and How to Help"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (January 13, 2010)
  • The aid agencies listed in this post aren't necessarily Catholic
• "Haiti Earthquake: Send Help if You Can, and Pray for the Folks Living There"
  (January 12, 2010)

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A tip of the hat to Gen215, on Twitter, for the heads-up on this post.