The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' annual collection for the Catholic Communication Campaign supports media that connect the faithful with Christ, said Atlanta Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, chairman of the USCCB Subcommittee on the Catholic Communication Campaign.
From the early days of the church, when monks, scholars and other scribes wrote on parchment, to today's modern communications methods, the Catholic Church has continuously used the communications technology available "to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ," the archbishop said.
In most dioceses, the collection is taken during Masses the weekend of May 20-21. The organization #iGiveCatholicTogether also accepts funds for this collection. Half of all donations stay in the diocese to supplement the local Catholic communications needs.
The collection "raises money for creative and far-reaching ways to share God's love universally," Archbishop Hartmayer said in a column shared with OSV News.
"As the printing press and movable type revolutionized the world and made the written word available to larger numbers of people, the Church embraced the power of the written word in its evangelization efforts," he said. "The Church was an early adopter of radio and television. And today, our Holy Father is the most influential global leader on Twitter, regularly sharing content with a global audience, surpassing the reach of presidents, prime ministers, and other world leaders."
In 2022, the Catholic Communication Campaign awarded grants totaling more than $3.62 million. The two largest portions, at more than $1.2 million each, were for the Rome bureau of Catholic News Service and for grants supporting evangelization through media. The next largest group of grants, at more than $500,000, supported web-based communications efforts to inform and advance discussion of national issues of importance to the bishops.
Other major funding areas were for Catholic communications in developing nations, preserving church history and "teaching Catholic leaders how to effectively use the media to share the Good News in a digital age," Archbishop Hartmayer said.
He emphasized what the U.S. bishops themselves are doing "to help the public understand the teaching and work of the Church," including providing coverage by the CNS Rome bureau to dioceses in the United States and around the world free of charge.
Since 1950, CNS Rome has produced "the world's best English-language coverage of the Holy Father, whether he is at the Vatican or traveling the globe," the archbishop said, adding that donations to the Catholic Communication Campaign allow the bureau chief, the reporters, photographer and videographer "at this vital center for Catholic journalism to provide accurate news to nearly 100 newspapers and dioceses."
A selection of stories is available daily at https://www.usccb.org/newsroom. CNS Rome news content also is accessed by nearly 1 million followers on Facebook and hundreds of thousands of others on other social media platforms.
The archbishop also highlighted some initiatives of the USCCB Department of Communications, including a relaunch of a weekly news program, "Catholic Current," available at https://www.youtube.com/usccb and on multiple Catholic television and radio networks.
"Catholic Current" also produces special news programs when the U.S. bishops gather for their plenary assemblies. This allows the prelates elected by their brother bishops as chairmen to conference committees as well as other clergy and lay leaders "to speak directly to the public about the important issues of faith, life, justice and peace," Archbishop Hartmayer said.
The public sessions of the bishops' plenary assemblies are livestreamed in their entirety on the USCCB website, "inviting the faithful into the collective work of the Church," he added.
The U.S. bishops also provide adult faith formation through short daily video reflections at https://bible.usccb.org, which "thousands of people use on a given day to grow closer to Jesus and his message," the archbishop said.
The 3-minute to 5-minute reflections feature "a diverse group of women and men, including laity, clergy, and the consecrated religious, who bring their knowledge and faith experience to the daily Scripture readings," he said. "Without the support of the Catholic Communication Campaign, this popular and well-loved ministry would not exist."
Donations to the annual collection for the campaign "help provide these much-needed resources to those who desire to hear and learn what the Church teaches and accomplishes firsthand" and "help everyone to hear the truth, goodness, and beauty of the Good News," Archbishop Hartmayer said.
"Through your gifts, together we will continue the work of the first apostles who set out to carry the life changing message of Jesus to all who would listen," he added.
