Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
In the United States today, numerous Catholic sisters, brothers, and religious order priests past age 70 benefit from the Retirement Fund for Religious collection. Donations to this special collection provide funding that helps religious communities care for senior members and plan for long-term retirement needs. On the weekend of November 1, all parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Louis will take up the annual collection for the Retirement Fund for Religious, an opportunity for you to acknowledge the thousands of senior Catholic sisters, brothers, and religious order priests for their faithful service.
Whether or not we realize it, we are all beneficiaries of the tremendous contributions these women and men have made to the Church in the United States. Through hard work, prayer, and sacrifice, they built Catholic schools and hospitals, initiated programs to promote social justice, and ministered to the neediest among us.
Today, many religious communities struggle to care for their elderly members. Elder sisters, brothers, and religious order priests dedicated their lives to service and prayer, and some lack adequate retirement savings. Increasing healthcare costs and decreased income make it difficult to provide necessary medical care, costly medications and basic services.
Would you please consider making a contribution to the Retirement Fund for Religious? In addition, let us join together in grateful prayer for the generous religious who have served the Church in the United States.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Robert J. Carlson
Archbishop of St. Louis
In addition, the Archbishop issued a statement on Immigration. In a letter to his brother priests he stated: It is in the spirit of prayerful conversion and pastoral mercy to our global and local reality that reaffirm my own commitment to accompany our immigrant and refugee communities. I also call upon you, my brother priests, and the faithful of the Archdiocese of St. Louis and people of good will to join me in expressing our solidarity and hope.
Go to: http://archstl.org/archstl/page/most-reverend-robert-j-carlson, there to find the link for his pastoral letter on Immigration, in both English and Spanish