Combined Collections

One Church, One Mission

Let us have faith. Catholics in America, the faithful of all backgrounds, are good and generous people. Even in difficult economic times they are supportive of the Church’s work through financial contributions, in service, and with prayer. As leaders we need to trust them to make decisions about their generosity. We must give them the opportunity to support each national collection, to hear about and pray for the needs of the Church in our nation and throughout the world, and to live as faithful stewards as they give generously so that “gifts may be given to them” (cf. Lk 6:38). It is the ministry of the bishops and the responsibility of local and national leaders assisting the bishops to give the faithful the opportunity to be inspired by the breadth and depth of the Church’s outreach through these collections. We must also increase our trust in God’s providence that we will be able to meet the needs in our dioceses that present themselves while meeting the ongoing needs of the Universal Church. (USCCB, One Church, One Mission, 8)

To learn more about why the Church instituted national collections, including the canonical and scriptural foundations, continue reading the USCCB's mandate: One Church, One Mission. 

Combined Collections in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee

In the mid-1980s, the Council of Priests in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee decided to combine when collections who be taken up for various ministries that the USCCB prescribed. The rationale was to eliminate reoccurring requests for donations, because frequent requests were not yielding fruitful returns for ministries scheduled in later months. As a result of the study, the first Combined Collections Program began across the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in 1989.

Today, the collections are taken twice a year, with one collection focusing more on national ministries and the other focusing more on international ministries. The collections are taken up by parishes and through mailings every June and October.