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CHICAGO (CNS) – More than 180 bishops gathered at Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral June 15 to celebrate the accomplishments of Catholic Extension over the past 100 years.
“It’s a great joy for many of the bishops of the United States who are here to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Catholic Extension Society,” said Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George, the group’s chancellor, prior to the Mass. “The society was founded with a zeal to allow the church to flourish in every part of our land.” The Mass, celebrated the evening before the beginning of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ June meeting, gave Extension leaders an opportunity to thank the bishops for their support. The support of bishops, priests and lay people has allowed Catholic Extension to give more than $400 million to the home missions – Catholic communities in dioceses around the country that are too poor or too small to meet all their own needs.
The organization started small, said Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb of Mobile, Ala., the group’s vice chancellor. He noted that Catholic Extension, then known as the Catholic Church Extension Society, was founded by a young Canadian-born priest serving a small parish in northern Michigan. Father Francis Clement Kelley started the group after being moved by the poverty he saw in rural and remote America. Ironically, Father Kelley was on a speaking tour trying to raise money to pay off the church he built in Lapeer, Mich., when he saw far greater needs in other areas.
Brief
“It’s a great joy for many of the bishops of the United States who are here to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Catholic Extension Society,” said Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George, the group’s chancellor, prior to the Mass. “The society was founded with a zeal to allow the church to flourish in every part of our land.” The Mass, celebrated the evening before the beginning of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ June meeting, gave Extension leaders an opportunity to thank the bishops for their support. The support of bishops, priests and lay people has allowed Catholic Extension to give more than $400 million to the home missions – Catholic communities in dioceses around the country that are too poor or too small to meet all their own needs.
The organization started small, said Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb of Mobile, Ala., the group’s vice chancellor. He noted that Catholic Extension, then known as the Catholic Church Extension Society, was founded by a young Canadian-born priest serving a small parish in northern Michigan. Father Francis Clement Kelley started the group after being moved by the poverty he saw in rural and remote America. Ironically, Father Kelley was on a speaking tour trying to raise money to pay off the church he built in Lapeer, Mich., when he saw far greater needs in other areas.
Brief