Visually-impaired seek gov’t help with printed material
May 24, 2019
A road well traveled
May 24, 2019
From Archbishop’s Appeal
Recognising the dire need to support the priestly vocation, the Archbishop’s Appeal was given a mandate to support our seminarians. The clarion call was an SOS to the national Catholic community to support our seminarians.
In April 2018, the Appeal launched a series of fundraising measures starting with the sale of prints by well-known artist Sundiata. The print depicted Mount St Benedict with the Seminary in the foreground with the peace lily. It was the start of a journey that touched the hearts of the faithful, as they understood the need facing our Church.
A boat cruise on the Harbour Master was done in May. It was a most exciting and rewarding evening for everyone who attended. Maxi taxis came from central and south bringing partygoers with their coolers.
It was truly delightful for our Catholic community to demonstrate that even though we are faithful to the Gospel of Jesus, we can indeed have good clean fun. We have been asked time and time again for a repeat…who knows!
The ‘Lift Your Light’ promotion was done on a trial basis with 2,000 pieces of wax distributed to selected parishes, requesting donations and special intentions.
The intentions were offered up at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Curepe in an astonishing ceremony led by the parish priest, Fr Arnold Francis. What an amazing promotion, this proved to be! Although the promo ended in September 18, we are still receiving donations and intentions.
It is good to speak about supporting the seminarians, but we believe it is important for you to understand what exactly this means, and, how much it actually costs to put a seminarian through one year of study.
It costs $75,000 per year, and this is made up of:
Tuition – $23,000
Lodging – $20,000
Food – $21,000
Salaries & Benefits – $9,000
Formation – $2,000
TOTAL – $75,000
Considering that it takes eight years to complete, we need to invest $600,000 in each seminarian to take these men who have given their lives to the Church right up to ordination.
You can see that your continuing assistance is needed.
In total the SOS campaign earned $1,500,000 in just seven months and yet this simply covers ten seminarians for two of the eight years of study. Not included is any infrastructural work to the building. Maintenance is key if we are to keep the building in good standing.
Give a thought to you and your family coming together to enter into a Deed of Covenant to support our seminarians. You may opt for a three- to five-year period which would help us bring more priests into our community.
At present we have ten seminarians in training; six ordained in the past year; six enrolled in the aspirancy programme where they discern their calling from God. It is an incredible, fascinating journey which we need to support.
Think for a moment that without our priests, a number of sacraments will not be offered. Most importantly transubstantiation will not exist, meaning that you will not be able to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus during Mass. The situation is crucial.
Thank you for your kind and generous assistance. Keep the seminarians in prayer. Ask our friend Jesus to send more workers into His Vineyard.
Ways to Give
A gift by cheque should be made payable to: RC ABP POS/ Archbishop’s Appeal
Direct Deposit to account name RC ABP POS /Archbishop’s Appeal at any branch of the following banks:
Republic Bank Ltd
Account Number: 3400 0076 8901
Scotia Bank Ltd
Account Number: 74815 1203181
RBTT Bank Limited
Account Number: 11000 00006 66705
First Citizens Bank Ltd
Account Number: 1877233
Deeds of Covenant
Donations via Deeds can be arranged at the Chancery
Text to Give
Available on both Bmobile and Digicel networks.
TEXT
2SAVE (27283) – $500.00
2GIVE (24483) – $100.00
2HOPE (24673) – $50.00
2HELP (24357) – $10.00
If you have any questions or need clarification on how to donate please feel free to call us at the Chancery Tel: 622-2691 or send us an email at appeal@abpos.org
The Chancery
Archbishop’s House
27 Maraval Road Port of Spain
