By David Karas | Correspondent

In his July 2015 address at the World Meeting of Popular Movements in Bolivia, Pope Francis offered a strong declaration of faith and action.

“Each of us, let repeat from the heart,” he said. “No family without lodging, no rural worker without land, no laborer without rights, no people without sovereignty, no individual without dignity, no child without childhood, no young person without a future, no elderly person without a venerable old age.”

And it is in the spirit of this charge that Church and Diocese of Trenton leaders encourage support for this year’s Catholic Campaign for Human Development collection, held in most parishes the weekend of Nov. 19-20, on the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, and the close of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

The CCHD is the domestic anti-poverty program of American Catholic bishops, working to garner support to tackle unjust systems and structures, and offering help to those in need. The program works to break the cycle of poverty, according to the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, through offering the poor and marginalized a hand up, rather than a hand out.

“The USCCCB has two organizations that work to address poverty – of course there is the Catholic Relief Services, which is geared toward addressing poverty internationally,” said Father John C. Garrett, director of the CCHD for the Diocese, and pastor of Resurrection Parish, Delran. “And then there is the Catholic Campaign for Human Development that focuses on addressing poverty here in the United States.”

An estimated 43 million people live in poverty in the United States, according to the USCCB, and the annual collection – held the weekend before Thanksgiving – funds the work of groups that support and empower low-income individuals with the goal of breaking the poverty cycle.

Father Garrett said 75 percent of the funds received through the collection are sent to the national CCHD program, which offers grants and provides support to organizations helping individuals around the country. The rest  remains in the Diocese.

“We can also give out grants to local organizations that are working to address poverty,” he said. “This year, we have a little over $30,000 to give out.”

Organizations are eligible to apply for grants if they are registered as Catholic entities, he said, and so past recipients have ranged from Catholic Charities and the Trenton-based Mount Carmel Guild, to parish outreach programs. Initiatives include everything from before-school care to food banks, home nursing programs to utility relief.

“As Pope Francis has mentioned frequently, we have to go out to the fringes,” said Father Garrett. “We have to reach out to those, just as Christ reached out to those who lived on the fringes of society. We, as the members of this mystical body, have to continue his mission of reaching out to those in need.”

Many of the projects supported by CCHD across the country embody the Corporal Works of Mercy, according to the USCCB, including protecting the rights of workers, expanding healthc are access, and working to address injustices in the criminal justice system.

“The Year of Mercy, a time of extraordinary grace, is also a fitting time for the annual CCHD collection,” said Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, chair of the CCHD Subcommittee of the USCCB. “The Mercy of Jesus is abiding and always urgent. CCHD sustains the Holy Father’s initiative to bring the joy of the gospel to our brothers and sisters living on the margins of American life.”

In this way, the CCHD is integral to the Church’s social mission in the United States. Father Garrett emphasized the focus of such programs, on empowering clients to be involved in decisions to help them escape poverty.

 “We are more interested in trying to help find ways to help people develop the skills and have the opportunities so they can establish themselves,” he said.