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Deacon Kent Ferris, OFSferrisdavenportdiocese.orgSocial Action & Catholic Charities Director -
Esmeralda Guerreroguerrerodavenportdiocese.orgAdministrative Assistant Social Action & Catholic Charities
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News
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September 5While visiting a parish in his diocese recently, Bishop Gabriel Edoe Kumordji, SVD of Ghana, Africa was dismayed to find the church building without a roof. A strong wind blew it off in the coastal community of West Africa. Just a year ago, he advised the parish to plant trees to serve as a windbreak to protect the building. Trees had not been planted.Read More
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June 9Nine-year-old Sophia Garcia sits on the floor of her home helping her mom, Esmeralda Guerrero, go through applications for missionaries hoping to speak in the Diocese of Davenport. Sophia, an incoming fifth-grade student at All Saints Catholic School in Davenport, enjoys learning about where different countries are located and how these missions help Catholics and others throughout the world — especially when a mission benefits children.Read More
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August 6By Lindsay Steele The Catholic Messenger “Growing up as an orphan, I’m one of the people who received support from generous people like you,” Father Fortunatus Rwehikiza tells viewers in a video on the Diocese of Davenport’s Missionary Cooperation Plan (MCP) website. In the video, the Tanzanian priest, who recently studied at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, speaks about the needs of his home diocese of Rulenge-Ngara, which include access to clean water, maternity homes and tuition for seminarians.Read More
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The Mission Cooperative Plan (MCP) of the Diocese of Davenport promotes awareness of missions worldwide in the parishes throughout the Diocese. Each year representatives of missionary congregations are invited to visit select parishes to share their experience and ask for financial support and prayers. Groups applying to the Missionary Cooperative Plan must be in good standing serving in foreign countries or in a diocese in the United States that has been designated as a missionary by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
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Below are the mission that were selected for 2025 to do Mission Appeals at the Diocese of Davenport. Please keep them in your prayers as they make appeals in our Diocese.
- Catholic Diocese of Kitui
- Mary's Meals USA
- Sisters of Mater Dei
- St. Vincent Mission Inc.
- Catholic Diocese of Rulenge_Ngara
- Glenmary Home Missioners
- Missionary Fraternity of Mary
- Maranatha Caring Mission
- Diocese of Musoma
- Diocese of Nellore
- Sisters of the Holy Union of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary in Cameroon
- Sister of the Incarnate Word (SVI)
To support the work of each Mission please make all donations to:
Diocese of Davenport
Mission Coop Plan
Attn: Finance Department
780 West Central Park Ave.
Davenport, IA 52801Memo Line of Check: Write the name of the Mission
PLEASE DO NOT SEND FUNDS DIRECTLY TO THE MISSION.
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Learn about the work of each Mission below:
Group 1: Catholic Diocese of Kitui
The Catholic Diocese of Kitui is in the Eastern part of Kenya. As per 2019 Census report, Kitui has a total population of 1,136, 260,498 are Baptized Catholics according to 2023 Diocesan Statistics.
The Catholic Diocese of Kitui was established in 1964, with Bishop Dunne as the first Bishop. The Diocese celebrated 60 year Anniversary. Milestone during the 60 years include: Creation of new parishes from initial 19 to the current 35 parishes, 93 Diocesan Priests, 4 Deacons and 89 Major Seminarians, Religious Brothers and Sisters born in Kitui Diocese, 722 Catechists and Christians who remain to be strong in Faith.
The Diocese is exploring ways to raise more resources to become self-reliant. This will be achieved through support from our local Christians, friends of the Diocese and oversee - benefactor s.
2025 Projects:- School Fees for our Eighty-Nine (89) Seminarians
- Creation of new parishes and outstations
- Support the completion of Diocesan Self-reliance Projects -Thome Plaza
- School fees for needy students in the Diocese
- Improve the standard and number of services offered at the Diocesan Mission, Hospitals and Dispensaries
- Ongoing Formation for Seminarians, Deacons and Priests.
- Support to St. John Eudes Rehabilitation Centre
- Ongoing formation for Pontifical Missionary Childhood Animators
- Child protection and safeguarding policy dissemination to Christians
- Humanitarian support to vulnerable children and families
- Monitoring the Implementation of the Diocesan Strategic Plan 2024-2029
Parish: (Appeal Location) City: Appeal Date: Sacred Heart Cathedral, Davenport June 28 & 29 Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Bettendorf July 19 & 20 St. Mary Parish Wilton June 28 & 29 Group 2: Sisters of Mater Dei
Sisters of Mater Dei Africa is an order of nuns centered in the Diocese of Same who's mission is to serve the poor of the Same region of Tanzania. They are asking for assistance to for the construction of their convent.As a religious congregation, Sisters of Mater Dei Africa devotes itself mainly to:- Teaching - evangelizing to all and educating children and youth, including teaching of catechesis.
- Healing - ministering to the sick, particularly the infirm and elderly.
- Helping - serving the poor and reaching out to the most vulnerable in society with compassion.
Learn more about this mission http://www.mdasisters.org/Parish: (Appeal Location) City: Appeal Date: St. John Vianney Parish Bettendorf St. Joseph Parish DeWitt SS. Philip & James Grand Mound GROUP 3: Catholic Diocese of Rulenge_Ngara
The diocese is located in a remote and rural area in the northwestern part of Tanzania. It serves a total population of over a million people. Out of this, 349,000 are Catholics. The diocese is made of 31 parishes; 169 outstations and 2080 Small Christian Communities (SCC).
The struggles of our diocese are:
- Training and formation of seminarians: Due to limited resources, the diocese does not have enough funds to pay for the tuition fee and other expenses for our seminarians who are being trained to become priests.
- Water scarcity problem: most of the rural communities in the diocese suffer greatly from the scarcity of water. Most of our people walk 12 miles) to fetch water for home use and still the water is not clean. In the midst of this challenge, the bishop is planning to construct two water wells which would serve a large community of almost 10,000 people. Each well costs $1,000.
- Taking care of orphans: The diocese has three orphanage centers it takes care of. Some of these orphans are being picked from the streets after being abandoned by their mothers because of the toughness of life. Some of these orphans have lost both their parents from different causes and have no one to take care of them.
- providing education for seminarians
- providing water for the poor communities
- providing basic needs for the orphans
Parish: (Appeal Location) City: Appeal Date: St. Alphonsus Parish Mount Pleasant St. Mary Parish Fairfield SS. Joseph and Cabrini (Richland) Brighton Holy Trinity Parish Keota St. Mary Parish Sigourney St. Joseph North English GROUP 4: Missionary Fraternity of Mary
The primary mission of the Fraternity is to provide pastoral care to the marginalized within the church or where the good news of Jesus Christ is not present. Fraternity priests serve in mission evangelizing where the need is the greatest.- Currently, 180 missionary priests are working in Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Kenya, Italy, Canada and the USA.
- 60 missions, 35 Dioceses, and 11 countries.
- Additionally, the Fraternity supports the formation of 48 seminarians.
- 2023 enrollment was 25 minor seminarians, Aspirants 6, Novitiate 4, and 18 major seminarians.
Parish: (Appeal Location) City: Appeal Date: SS Mary & Mathias Parish Muscatine November 8 & 9 St. Joseph Parish Columbus Junction August 16 & 17 St Joseph Parish West Liberty August 16 & 17 GROUP 5: Diocese of Musoma
Any funds raised will be dedicated to the construction of two new classrooms.
Currently, the school has 750 students from nursery to K-7. The school was established in 2015 and has grown each year since then. Their multi-year plan is to construct two
classrooms each year to accommodate additional students. The cost for each new classroom is approximately $12,000. Local funds are insufficient to cover all the costs.Parish: (Appeal Location) City: Appeal Date: Divine Mercy (Burlington) Mt. Pleasant St. St. Mary Parish (Dodgeville) Mt. Pleasant St. Group 6: Sisters of the Holy Union of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary in Cameroon
Their mission is to help the marginalized and be a voice for the voiceless
The financial assistance receive from this appeal will help with the humanitarian needs of the people who are currently suffering from an ongoing civil war that began in November 2016. The war between civilian fighters and government soldiers in the English-speaking part of Cameroon is ongoing; a situation where we experience daily killings of our people, kidnappings, especially of priests and religious, burning of churches and schools, and targeting of the Church by, mostly unknown gunmen resulting to fear, chaos, and disorder.
Most of their charity work is centered on educating young, underprivileged children and nutrition programs in our hospitals for pregnant women and children to enhance the health of their children. We currently run schools with children between the ages of three to sixteen years old in these affected areas where we provide food for 2989 thousand children in all our schools because they cannot afford to pay their tuition and feeding due to the ongoing civil war.Parish: (Appeal Location) City: Appeal Date: Holy Family Parish Fort Madison June 7 & 8 St. Joseph Parish (Montrose) Fort Madison June 7 & 8 Church of All Saints Keokuk July 5 & 6 GROUP 7: Mary's Meals USA
Mary's Meals' mission is to provide the world's poorest children with a daily meal in their place of education. In this way, Mary's Meals meets children's immediate need for food and basic nourishment, while at the same time enabling more children to attend school and to receive a basic education that can break a cycle of debilitating poverty. Mary's Meals began by providing 200 children school meals in Malawi in 2002, and today more than 2.4 million children eat Mary's Meals each school day in 17 of the world's poorest countries.Parish: (Appeal Location) City: Appeal Date: St. Mary of the Assumption West Point St. Boniface (Farmington) West Point St. John the Baptist, Houghton Houghton St. James the Less Parish (St. Paul) Houghton
GROUP 8: St. Vincent Mission Inc.
St Vincent Mission is located in the USA / Lexington Diocese. Founded in 1968 by the Brothers of Charity from Philadelphia, PA, St. Vincent Mission is a community of people dedicated to sharing the expression of Christian values. Doing outreach work for the economically distressed, persistent poverty-stricken people located in the Eastern Kentucky region of rural Appalachia.
The Missionary Cooperative Plan funds will be used to help fund SVM programs which include: Crisis Relief Assistance, Food Pantry, Home Repair Assistance, Organic Gardening, Career Assistance / Internship Program, Transitional Housing, on-site Thrift Store and the Christmas Store. All of the listed programs benefit the underserved and disadvantaged in their service area.Parish: (Appeal Location) City: Appeal Date: St. Peter Parish Lovilia June 28 & 29 St. Patrick Parish (Georgetown) Albia June 28 & 29 St. Mary Parish Albia June 28 & 29 St. Mary Parish Centerville July 19 & 20 St. Patrick Parish Melrose July 19 & 20 Group 9: Glenmary Home Missioners
Glenmary' s aim is to establish active and viable Catholic communities that are financially
self-sustaining and foster the growth of missionary disciples. Their mission parishes currently rely on subsidies to cover the cost of parish operations.
The funds received through mission appeal collections will help fund these subsidies, as well as their outreach ministries to the poor, vocation promotion efforts, formation expenses, and the care of the Senior members.Parish: (Appeal Location) City: Appeal Date: St. Mary of the Visitation Parish Ottumwa July 5 & 6 St. Patrick Parish Ottumwa July 5 & 6 St. Mary Magdalen Parish (Bloomfield) Ottumwa July 5 & 6
The Maranatha Caring Mission (MCM) was founded by Sr. Regina Mgbakor with the support of her friend and mentor Sr. Mary Julia Kepros, a sister of Mercy of the Americas. The mission of Maranatha is to establish and provide free medical clinics in the developing countries, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, provide water to the thirsty, and any other works as the Spirit directs. The mission is in keeping with the injunction of Christ in Matthew 25:40 "whatever you do to the least of my brethren that you do unto me."
GROUP 10: Maranatha Caring Mission
The Maranatha Caring Mission provides free medical care to the sick and the poor in impoverished communities in rural Nigeria. Many of these patients suffer from various eye diseases, especially cataract and pterygium. Through surgeries, these patients can regain their eyesight and take responsibility for their livelihood.
Parish: (Appeal Location) City: Appeal Date: St. Mary Parish Pella May 24 & 25 St. Mary Parish Oskaloosa May 24 & 25
Diocese of Nellore is a mission Diocese. Is geographically located along the east-coast, which is often hit by hurricanes and tornados. Most of their Catholics are very poor landless farm laborers. They are from the lower strata of Indian Society and victims of thousands of years of oppression and discrimination. Being very poor they are not in a position to provide for the pastoral needs of the Diocese. Rather they look up to the Diocese for their basic pastoral needs and for charity as well.
GROUP 11. Diocese of Nellore
Diocese of Nellore, as a very poor-mission, does not have any resources of its own to meet its basic pastoral and missionary needs. It depends on the ecclesial solidarity of other Dioceses
Funds raised from MCP will be directly use for pastoral care and evangelization only.
Diocese of Nellore faces the challenge of maintaining its 186 Priests, 15 Seminarians, 341 Catechists, 154 Teachers, 1500 Boarding Children and providing education to more than 5,200 Children in all the schools that are run in the Diocese. Funds raised through MCP will be use for this purpose too.
Parish: (Appeal Location) City: Appeal Date: Sacred Heart Parish Newton June 7 & 8 Immaculate Conception Parish Colfax June 7 & 8 GROUP 12: Sister of the Incarnate Word (SVI)
The Congregation of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word is a Diocesan religious congregation serving God's people within the Catholic Diocese of Sunyani, Ghana. Founded by Most Rev. Mathew Kwasi Gyamfi, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sunyan.
The congregation is spearheading bakery projects aimed at improving the economic well-being of the people in Ghana. These projects are designed to empower individuals by providing them with the skills and resources necessary to sustain their families and communities.
Today, 27 Sisters of the Incarnate Word are serving in various regions across Ghana. As a young congregation, they seek support to continue delivering humanitarian services and spreading the Word of God to those in need.
Their goal for 2025 is to raise $22,000 to help establish these bakery projects to enhance the livelihood of the people in Ghana. The people that will benefit from this funds are the people they serve in the Catholic Diocese of Sunyani, Ghana.Parish: (Appeal Location) City: Appeal Date: St. Anthony Parish Knoxville Sacred Heart Parish Melcher - School Fees for our Eighty-Nine (89) Seminarians