Accessibility Statement Skip Navigation
  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing
  • Login
  • GDPR
  • Create a Free Account
Return to PRWeb homepage
  • News
  • Resources
  • Contact
When typing in this field, a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you type.

Searching for your content...

No results found. Please change your search terms and try again.
  • News in Focus
      • Browse News Releases

      • All News Releases
      • Multimedia Gallery

      • All Multimedia
      • All Photos
      • All Videos
  • Business & Money
      • Auto & Transportation

      • Aerospace, Defense
      • Air Freight
      • Airlines & Aviation
      • Automotive
      • Maritime & Shipbuilding
      • Railroads and Intermodal Transportation
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Transportation, Trucking & Railroad
      • Travel
      • Trucking and Road Transportation
      • View All Auto & Transportation

      • Business Technology

      • Blockchain
      • Broadcast Tech
      • Computer & Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Components
      • Electronic Design Automation
      • Financial Technology
      • High Tech Security
      • Internet Technology
      • Nanotechnology
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Semiconductors
      • View All Business Technology

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Financial Services & Investing

      • Accounting News & Issues
      • Acquisitions, Mergers and Takeovers
      • Banking & Financial Services
      • Bankruptcy
      • Bond & Stock Ratings
      • Conference Call Announcements
      • Contracts
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Dividends
      • Earnings
      • Earnings Forecasts & Projections
      • Financing Agreements
      • Insurance
      • Investments Opinions
      • Joint Ventures
      • Mutual Funds
      • Private Placement
      • Real Estate
      • Restructuring & Recapitalization
      • Sales Reports
      • Shareholder Activism
      • Shareholder Meetings
      • Stock Offering
      • Stock Split
      • Venture Capital
      • View All Financial Services & Investing

      • General Business

      • Awards
      • Commercial Real Estate
      • Corporate Expansion
      • Earnings
      • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
      • Human Resource & Workforce Management
      • Licensing
      • New Products & Services
      • Obituaries
      • Outsourcing Businesses
      • Overseas Real Estate (non-US)
      • Personnel Announcements
      • Real Estate Transactions
      • Residential Real Estate
      • Small Business Services
      • Socially Responsible Investing
      • Surveys, Polls and Research
      • Trade Show News
      • View All General Business

  • Science & Tech
      • Consumer Technology

      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Blockchain
      • Cloud Computing/Internet of Things
      • Computer Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Consumer Electronics
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Gaming
      • Financial Technology
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Multimedia & Internet
      • Peripherals
      • Social Media
      • STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math)
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Consumer Technology

      • Energy & Natural Resources

      • Alternative Energies
      • Chemical
      • Electrical Utilities
      • Gas
      • General Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Oil & Energy
      • Oil and Gas Discoveries
      • Utilities
      • Water Utilities
      • View All Energy & Natural Resources

      • Environ­ment

      • Conservation & Recycling
      • Environmental Issues
      • Environmental Policy
      • Environmental Products & Services
      • Green Technology
      • Natural Disasters
      • View All Environ­ment

      • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Aerospace & Defense
      • Agriculture
      • Chemical
      • Construction & Building
      • General Manufacturing
      • HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning)
      • Machinery
      • Machine Tools, Metalworking and Metallurgy
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Paper, Forest Products & Containers
      • Precious Metals
      • Textiles
      • Tobacco
      • View All Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Telecomm­unications

      • Carriers and Services
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Telecommunications Equipment
      • Telecommunications Industry
      • VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Telecomm­unications

  • Lifestyle & Health
      • Consumer Products & Retail

      • Animals & Pets
      • Beers, Wines and Spirits
      • Beverages
      • Bridal Services
      • Cannabis
      • Cosmetics and Personal Care
      • Fashion
      • Food & Beverages
      • Furniture and Furnishings
      • Home Improvement
      • Household, Consumer & Cosmetics
      • Household Products
      • Jewelry
      • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
      • Office Products
      • Organic Food
      • Product Recalls
      • Restaurants
      • Retail
      • Supermarkets
      • Toys
      • View All Consumer Products & Retail

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Health

      • Biometrics
      • Biotechnology
      • Clinical Trials & Medical Discoveries
      • Dentistry
      • FDA Approval
      • Fitness/Wellness
      • Health Care & Hospitals
      • Health Insurance
      • Infection Control
      • International Medical Approval
      • Medical Equipment
      • Medical Pharmaceuticals
      • Mental Health
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Supplementary Medicine
      • View All Health

      • Sports

      • General Sports
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Sporting Events
      • Sports Equipment & Accessories
      • View All Sports

      • Travel

      • Amusement Parks and Tourist Attractions
      • Gambling & Casinos
      • Hotels and Resorts
      • Leisure & Tourism
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Passenger Aviation
      • Travel Industry
      • View All Travel

  • Policy & Public Interest
      • Policy & Public Interest

      • Advocacy Group Opinion
      • Animal Welfare
      • Congressional & Presidential Campaigns
      • Corporate Social Responsibility
      • Domestic Policy
      • Economic News, Trends, Analysis
      • Education
      • Environmental
      • European Government
      • FDA Approval
      • Federal and State Legislation
      • Federal Executive Branch & Agency
      • Foreign Policy & International Affairs
      • Homeland Security
      • Labor & Union
      • Legal Issues
      • Natural Disasters
      • Not For Profit
      • Patent Law
      • Public Safety
      • Trade Policy
      • U.S. State Policy
      • View All Policy & Public Interest

  • People & Culture
      • People & Culture

      • Aboriginal, First Nations & Native American
      • African American
      • Asian American
      • Children
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
      • Hispanic
      • Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual
      • Men's Interest
      • People with Disabilities
      • Religion
      • Senior Citizens
      • Veterans
      • Women
      • View All People & Culture

  • Hamburger menu
  • Cision PRWeb provides efficient communication tools to continuously engage with target audiences across multiple online channels
  • Create a Free Account
    • ALL CONTACT INFO
    • Contact Us


      11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday

  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • News in Focus
    • Browse All News
    • Multimedia Gallery
  • Business & Money
    • Auto & Transportation
    • Business Technology
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Financial Services & Investing
    • General Business
  • Science & Tech
    • Consumer Technology
    • Energy & Natural Resources
    • Environ­ment
    • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
    • Telecomm­unications
  • Lifestyle & Health
    • Consumer Products & Retail
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Health
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Policy & Public Interest
  • People & Culture
    • People & Culture
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR

Chicago-Based Catholic Extension Announces Historic New Initiatives in Cuba and Puerto Rico
  • USA - English


News provided by

LG-PR Public Relations

Sep 29, 2016, 07:00 ET

Share this article

Share toX

Share this article

Share toX

Archbishop Dionisio Garcia of Santiago greets a Catholic community leader in a neighborhood whose church was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. This street is currently the site for open-air Masses as they
Archbishop Dionisio Garcia of Santiago greets a Catholic community leader in a neighborhood whose church was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. This street is currently the site for open-air Masses as they

Chicago, Ill. (PRWEB) September 29, 2016 -- At a press conference on Tuesday, Sept. 27, Catholic Extension President Father Jack Wall and delegations of Catholic bishops from Cuba and Puerto Rico announced the launch of two new efforts by the Chicago-based fundraising and church-building organization to support the Catholic Church in the Caribbean.

As a papal society, Catholic Extension is carrying out the mandate of Pope Francis to go to the peripheries, which has always been its mission.

Post this

Speaking at the press conference, Father Wall called the organization’s new support for church infrastructure projects in Cuba and the increase of its longstanding support for the Catholic Church in Puerto Rico “two truly historic partnerships that will further build and strengthen the Church in Latin America.” He went on to quote the Puerto Rican poet Lola Rodríguez de Tió, who famously wrote, “Cuba and Puerto Rico are two wings of the same bird.”

According to Father Wall, the recent opening of the Cuban Church — begun by Pope St. John Paul II’s visit to Cuba, and furthered by Pope Benedict in 2012 and Pope Francis last year — “has paved the way for a new U.S.-Cuban Catholic partnership focused on helping the Cuban Catholic Church with one of its most pressing needs: the repair and construction of churches and church facilities.

Archbishop Dionisio Garcia of Santiago de Cuba, the president of the Cuban Catholic bishops’ conference, said, “We are very grateful to Catholic Extension for their new initiative, which speaks volumes of their pastoral concern and fraternal spirit. This collaboration is beginning on solid ground. Our church is in dire need of resources and infrastructures as well as pastoral ministers and means for its pastoral work. Thanks be to God, the Spirit has moved the Church.”

He added, “In the middle of these needs in this difficult time, our church in Cuba is prayerful, incarnated and missionary. Prayerful because we know that our strength only comes from the Lord, and if we trust in him, the church will move forward. It is incarnated because we find that especially in the challenges, the gospel has to be present. Christ can heal our wounds, and it is right there that the Church needs to be. And it is also missionary because even with our limited resources, the Spirit has moved the church to go out on a mission, even when it was prohibited.”

He added that Catholic Extension’s “commitment to help us in this area of what we call the ‘dead stones,’ can then make it possible for ourselves to be the ‘living stones.’ This help is very important and needed.”

In a statement, Archbishop Blase Cupich, the chancellor of Catholic Extension, said, “Catholic Extension’s announcement today that it is partnering with the Catholic Church in Cuba to repair and rebuild churches there and increase its financial support in Puerto Rico represents a significant step in helping Catholics in these areas to keep their faith alive and growing.”

He added, “As a papal society, Catholic Extension is carrying out the mandate of Pope Francis to go to the peripheries, which has always been its mission. We are, in a very tangible way, extending the church and the love of Christ to our neighbors.

“Our work in Cuba and Puerto Rico will be mutually beneficial,” Archbishop Cupich said. “While we are offering funding and other resources, we are at the same time enriched by the inspiring example and the witness of living faith given by our partners on these two islands. As Catholic Extension’s chancellor, I am very proud of these new initiatives and look forward to working with our brothers and sisters in faith in Cuba and Puerto Rico.”

For many decades the Cuban Catholic Church, like other Christian denominations, has not had adequate facilities for its worship and its religious, social and charitable activities. But that is beginning to change, and in the case of the Catholic Church, it has recently been able to reacquire churches from the Cuban government. However, most of these reacquired churches require extensive repairs and reconstructions.

In addition, due to lack of funding and resources, churches in Cuba have also been struggling to repair many of the church buildings that were destroyed by Hurricanes Ike in 2008 and Sandy in 2012 and left in ruin ever since.

The Christian churches in Cuba welcome the recent positive developments. Despite its limited financial and material resources, the Catholic Church is now developing plans for providing more churches and facilities for its pastoral ministries.

Meanwhile the Church in Puerto Rico has been experiencing significant fallout from the current debt and economic crisis that brought Puerto Rico’s economy and government services to the brink of collapse this year and that has led to the largest wave of outmigration from Puerto Rico to the U.S. mainland in more than 50 years. Over the past five years, the island’s population has shrunk by 7 percent to 3.4 million.

According to Archbishop Roberto González of San Juan, the Puerto Rican Catholic Church has seen an increase in people seeking its social services at a time when its own resources are greatly reduced.

Earlier this year, the archbishop was one of the most prominent advocates for a plan to restructure the island’s $72 billion debt, which became law in June. Despite being troubled by the lack of Puerto Rican decision making authority, he supported what is called the PROMESA (Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act) plan as the only viable path out of the crisis.

Speaking at the press conference, Archbishop González said, “In Puerto Rico, we have been the beneficiaries of Catholic Extension’s generosity for over a hundred years. It has made a big difference, and we thank you for your perseverance and generosity.”

He explained that the current debt crisis “has begun to cripple the financial and physical infrastructure of Puerto Rico” and that “the situation is slowly evolving into what could be a very serious humanitarian crisis. We see it especially among our elderly. The Catholic Church, through Caritas, is doing all that we can to address the increasing poverty on the island. Approximately 60 percent of children in Puerto Rico live in poverty today.”

“The church needs an infrastructure, and that is where Extension has been most helpful to us, because we need to attend to the ‘living stones,’ but we also need to attend to the structures of the church because that makes possible our physical presence.”

About Catholic Extension: Catholic Extension, founded in 1905, headquartered in Chicago and led by Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich, has as its mission to build churches and the Church in America’s under-resourced mission dioceses. In its more than 110-year history, the organization has been involved in almost 12,500 projects to construct and repair churches and church facilities and has provided more than $1.2 billion (in today’s dollars) to build and strengthen the Catholic Church in poor, rural and remote regions of the United States, Puerto Rico, and U.S. territories and protectorates. Throughout its history it has also entered into several limited engagements to help with church construction projects in other countries, including in Central America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa.

Catholic Extension is undertaking the partnership with the Cuban Catholic Church as a temporary, three-year engagement that includes an initial pilot phase and has as its goal to help with construction and repair projects of churches and church facilities throughout all of Cuba’s 11 dioceses.

Catholic Extension has been active in Puerto Rico since its first assistance in 1908 for a building project in the Archdiocese of San Juan. Since then, Catholic Extension’s funding to the island’s six dioceses has totaled more than $54 million (or $100 million when adjusted for inflation). More than 40 percent, or $22 million, of these funds have gone toward 1,400 building projects for churches and church facilities. Over the past five years combined, funding from Catholic Extension to Puerto Rico has been almost $6 million. Catholic Extension is working with the bishops to identify the needs in Puerto Rico in order to increase its presence and funding to assist during the debt crisis. Earlier this month, Extension also announced that its 2016-2017 Lumen Christi Award – Catholic Extension’s highest honor – is the first ever recipient from Puerto Rico. Melva Arbelo is the director of Santa Teresita of the Child Jesus Children’s Home for abused and neglected children in the Diocese of Arecibo.

For high-resolution photos or more information on this new partnership, please contact Lisa Gunggoll at 708-829-8669 or Lisa(at)LG-PR(dot)com

Lisa Gunggoll, LG-PR Public Relations, http://www.catholicextension.org, +1 (708) 829-8669, [email protected]

Modal title

Contact PRWeb

  • 11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday
  • Contact Us

About PRWeb

  • About PRWeb
  • Partners
  • Partnership Programs
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Resources

Why PRWeb

  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing

Accounts

  • Create a Free Account
  • Log in
  • Contact Us

Do not sell or share my personal information:

  • Submit via [email protected] 
  • Call Privacy toll-free: 877-297-8921

Contact Cision

Products

About

My Services
  • All News Releases
  • Online Member Center
  • ProfNet
Cision Distribution Helpline
888-776-0942
  • Legal
  • Site Map
  • RSS
  • Cookie Settings
Copyright © 2025 Cision US Inc.