The annual Collection to Aid the Church in Central and Eastern Europe will be held in the Diocese this Sun., Feb. 7.

The collection supports pastoral, educational and construction projects in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

In 2015, the Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe awarded over $7.7 million through more than 250 grants.

Projects supported by the collection assist a broad range of needs focused on providing pastoral care and developing resources in countries of the former Soviet Union and who have struggled to rebuild faith communities in a post-communist society.

Among projects recently supported are the construction of a daycare center facility for children with disabilities in Armenia and conflict resolution and peer mediation training for faculty members of a Catholic school in Russia.

“This annual collection on behalf of our brothers and sisters who are struggling in Central and Eastern Europe offers a vivid reminder that mercy is needed not only in our personal lives but in our world,” said Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, chairman of the Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe. “The people in this region of the world have great need as they continue to rebuild their lives and Church communities in a post-Soviet society.”

In 2014, the Subcommittee on the Church in Central and Eastern Europe approved 290 grants, funded by national donations, for a total of $7,853,306. In 2014, 61 scholarship and evangelization grants were awarded, totaling $850,552. The remainder of the collection was allocated to support construction, pastoral, social justice, and peace projects and rebuild the pastoral capacity and create future leaders of the Catholic Church in Central and Eastern Europe.

For more information on the Collection to Aid the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, visit www.usccb.org/ccee.