Since November 2012, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has taken up a national collection every three years on the Sunday preceding Veteran’s Day on behalf of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS). This year’s collection will be taken up in parishes in the Diocese of Trenton the weekend of Nov. 8-9.
The AMS is the only U.S. diocese responsible for providing pastoral care and services to Catholics serving in the military or enrolled in a military academy. It covers the six branches of the U.S. Armed Forces serving at home and abroad and the services extends to those undergoing treatment at any of the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers, or who work in civilian jobs for the federal government overseas and for their families. Programs and services provided by AMS include evangelization and catechesis, sacramental records, Tribunal, vocations and veterans’ affairs.
Unlike a typical diocese, the AMS has no territorial borders. Its mission is worldwide and it supports the military members wherever they are assigned or deployed. Also there are no parishes that provide weekly sources of funds to support the AMS. The AMS relies completely on private donations for its operating budget of more than $9.3 million.
Being the AMS is an entity of the Catholic Church, it is a “home” mission diocese that depends almost entirely on financial support from individual donors including personal donations from its military and VA chaplains, gifts from military communities, gifts from dioceses, charitable bequests and grants.
The military chaplains are members of the Armed Forces and are paid by the government. The AMS must pay all the travel costs for its clergy to visit military installations around the world. They do not travel on military aircraft. The AMS receives limited support from certain U.S. dioceses and foundations that support Catholic causes.
Among the key AMS pastoral responsibilities that donations support include:
- Co-Sponsored Seminarian Program, in which the AMS and cooperating dioceses and religious communities share the costs of seminary education with for men aspiring to become military chaplains.
- Vocation Discernment, identifying and assisting members of the military who are interested in exploring their call to priestly service and religious life by conducting regular personal visits and retreats.
- Young Adults, fostering, through small faith groups, outreach ministry and evangelization among 18-24-year olds in the military seeking to support and deepen their Catholic faith.
- Families, providing catechetical tools and resources to effectively meet the pastoral needs of military families dealing with the challenges of military life that include a desire to find their home in the Catholic faith.
- VA Chaplaincy, recruiting, endorsing and supervising more than 270 full, part-time and contract Catholic priests who minister to veterans.
For more information on AMS visit milarch.org. Those who cannot donate on the Diocese’s collection day in parishes can make donations directly online at www.milarch.org/nationalcollection, or checks can be mailed to: Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, P.O. Box 4469, Washington, D.C. 20017, ATTN: 2022 National Collection.