Drawing inspiration from an open letter about
\nhuman dignity penned by Montreal Archbishop Christian Lepine last December, the archdiocese’s 2026 Annual Campaign theme is \u201cWhere There Is
\nDignity, We Are There.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maribel Mayorga, director of communications and media relations, said\u00a0the appeal goes beyond just affirming this
\nprinciple. It also demonstrates the importance \u201cof living it out completely
\nthrough care, listening and accompaniment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Where last year\u2019s campaign reaped $670,000, this year’s goal is $1 million. But highlighting the monetary target is not the motivation of this drive, said Mayorga.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe focus for us is to really encourage
\n(support for) all the community work that the diocese and many other offices
\nare doing through and for the parishes so that these services can continue to
\ngrow and reach more people in need,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Video features are at the heart of this effort. The archdiocese produced six profile stories to highlight the
\nsteadfast efforts of longtime volunteers serving in the youth, marriage and
\nfamily, pastoral home care, cultural communities\/migration, street
\nministry\/homeless and pastoral personnel vocations.<\/p>\n
Sr. Natalia Vazquez, the coordinator for the
\nhuman and spiritual accompaniment of Archdiocese of Montreal priests, is
\nfeatured in one of the videos serving 30 priests living in the Angus residence.
\nShe and her team ensure these priests reach their medical appointments,
\naccess the sacraments and receive spiritual support from other clergy, while
\nalso keeping each pastor\u2019s loved ones informed about their well-being.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fully dedicated to this mission,\u201d said
\nVazquez in the video. \u201cFrom the moment I arrive each morning, for example,
\nthrough my prayers, everything is for the mission and praying for the priests
\nand for their sanctification.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Mayorga said what is appealing about the
\nvideos is the power of witness and faith being exhibited.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see in action what is really happening
\nin the hearts of all these people through, of course, God’s presence,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Not only does Mayorga gain an intimate
\nglimpse of the archdiocese\u2019s impactful work through the videos, but she also
\ngets a close-up view through her visits to the parishes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether it’s cultural committees, youth,
\nfamily life or any department, I can see how they’re close to people, how
\ncompassionate they are and how they can really make a difference in people’s
\nlives,\u201d said Mayorga.<\/p>\n
Lepine underscored to the faithful
\nhow they, too, can make a difference by choosing to support the campaign.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery gesture, every presence shared, every
\nword matters,\u201d he wrote in a letter. \u201cThrough your generosity, the
\nCatholic Church in Montreal can continue its mission to welcome, serve,
\naccompany and bear witness to God\u2019s love. Your support sends a clear message
\nto those we accompany: ‘You matter. Your life is invaluable.’ \u201d<\/p>\n
Visit diocesemontreal.org to learn more.<\/p>\n
(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Drawing inspiration from an open letter about human dignity penned by Montreal Archbishop Christian Lepine last December, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":616908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-616907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}