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Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published August 18, 2006

Detroit – Five parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit have been using a century-old missionary society to help ease the yearlong plight of parishes damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

The parishes – St. Joseph in Maybee, St. Kenneth in Plymouth, St. Patrick in Carleton, Christ the King in Detroit and Immaculate Conception in Lapeer – each have been paired up via the Catholic Church Extension Society with hurricane-damaged parishes in Louisiana.

The society – often simply called Catholic Extension – was founded by Michigan priest Fr. Francis Clement Kelley at the beginning of the 20th century as a way for wealthy, big-city parishes to help build and maintain churches in small farming communities. Lately, the society has been pairing up needy parishes from disaster-stricken areas with any other parishes around the country that would volunteer.

A handful of Detroit parishes took up the calling.

"It's good stewardship, basically," said Fr. Thomas Belczak, pastor of St. Kenneth Parish, which has had a basket in the church sanctuary since shortly after the hurricanes to help raise funds for Our Lady of Prompt Succor Parish in Chalmette, La. "Everything you get is a gift from God, and everything is a blessing."

Fr. Belczak said joining Catholic Extension was part of his parish's efforts to practice better stewardship. It fits in with other things that the parish can do, such as donate their time, give blood and volunteer at church or hospitals.

"Everything can and should be an opportunity for gratitude to God for the blessings we've received," he said.

While most parishes have prayed for and collected money, and even clothing, for their paired church in Louisiana, Christ the King Parish took the added step of regular communication with its needy parish, Holy Family in Dulac, La.

"It's one thing to collect money," said Andi Kovach, head of the Christian Service Commission at Christ the King. "It's another to do something more personal."

Catholic Extension The Chicago-based Catholic Church Extension Society • Began in 1905. • Has helped raise funds for 12,000 churches and parish centers in the United States. • Educates the faithful about U.S. missions through its Extension magazine. • Has linked 283 donor parishes in the United States with 101 parishes damaged by Hurricane Katrina, and Rita. • Information about the Catholic Church Extension Society and its Parish Partnership Program can be found at www.catholic-extension.org.

The Detroit parish has devised various fundraisers over the year to raise money earmarked for Holy Family. Their Super Bowl and Marti Gras celebrations benefited the Louisiana Parish, as did a special Christmas in July celebration where parishioners donated throw rugs, towels, washcloths, sheets and money to an elderly parishioner of Holy Family.

Fr. Freddie Decal, pastor of Holy Family, said his parish was grateful for the assistance, and especially thankful to know, personally, who they were receiving the help from.

"It is good for us to feel people reaching out to us," he said. "We are not alone, and we feel God's presence through the generosity of God's people who don't know us."

Holy Family is a rural community of about 700 families, though many have left since the hurricane hit, Fr. Decal said. The parish's grounds were completely flooded, and the religious education office was destroyed by the storm. In addition, many of the parishioners in the largely Native American community made their livings fishing and shrimping, and had their boats destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

The money they receive from Christ the King, Fr. Decal said, would buy anything from cleaning supplies to medicine for parishioners.

More important than the material aspect though, he said, is the sense of community his parishioners receive from their fellow parish in Detroit.

"You reel like you're a Church and you're connected," he said. "It really picks up the spirit of our people."

Special Katrina collection Parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit will take part in a national collection Aug. 26-27 to continue to fund recovery efforts in the Archdiocese of New Orleans and the Diocese of Biloxi, Miss., following the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina last year. Cardinal Adam Maida explained in a letter to priests that the collection will help provide the dioceses with resources for rebuilding parish facilities. In New Orleans, the archdiocese is dealing with $120 million worth of uninsured flood damage; the Diocese of Biloxi has costs of about $35 million not covered by insurance.