September 7, 2019 - Cardinal Authorizes a Special Collection to Benefit the Dioceses of the Bahamas

Cardinal Sean has authorized a Special Collection to benefit the (arch)dioceses of the Bahamas and the United States that have been ravaged by the destruction of Hurricane Dorian. With the devastation caused by this severe storm, the emergency needs of the local Church in these areas will be great.

The Cardinal has asked pastors to consider at their discretion a special collection either this weekend September 7/8 or the weekends of September 21/22 or 28/29. Checks should be made out to the “Archdiocese of Boston” and clearly marked on the memo line “Hurricane Dorian Relief”. As information about the destruction and needs becomes known the Church will work in collaboration with Catholic Relief Services for the Bahamas and Catholic Charities USA for any US diocese that has emergency needs.

On his blog, www.cardinalseansblog.org, last evening, the Cardinal offered the following reflection on the devastation:

"My heart goes out to the people of the Bahamas, who have experienced such devastation and loss of life as a result of Hurricane Dorian. I have been in contact with the Church in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico and, though they suffered some damage, it is nothing like what the people of the Bahamas have experienced. It reminded me very much of our experience in the Virgin Islands with Hurricane Hugo which, like Dorian, was a very slow-moving storm. When Hugo hit the Virgin Islands, it was only going about 5 miles an hour and so was on top of us for about 24 hours. I believe that when Dorian reached the Bahamas it was traveling about only 1 mile an hour, so it brought down wave after wave of rain on them and the fierce winds persisted for hours. Of course, that is why they have had so many deaths and such utter destruction."

The Cardinal added that "we continue to pray for them and all those who have been in the path of the storm."