CHARLOTTE — Parishes across the Diocese of Charlotte will take up a special second collection at Masses the weekend of Aug. 29-30 to support both The Catholic University of America and Belmont Abbey College.
A national annual collection supporting The Catholic University of America dates back over 50 years and is organized through the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. This year, Bishop Michael Martin has added support for Belmont Abbey College to the collection, with undesignated gifts to be divided equally between the two institutions.
The Belmont Abbey College portion will be placed in an endowment to provide tuition assistance for Catholic students from the Diocese of Charlotte, helping strengthen the future of the region’s only Catholic college.
Founded in 1876 by Benedictine monks, Belmont Abbey College has been a cornerstone of Catholicism in North Carolina – founding and staffing churches and schools, educating generations of Catholic laypeople, forming future priests and deacons, preparing educators for Catholic schools, supporting parish ministries, and serving as a center for Catholic intellectual, cultural and spiritual life. Through its Benedictine tradition of prayer, learning and hospitality, the college continues to strengthen the Church’s mission of evangelization throughout western North Carolina.
In a letter to the diocese’s clergy announcing the special collection, Bishop Martin praised Belmont Abbey College as “a blessing for Catholic life in our region for 150 years.”
The special collection, he wrote, “allows the diocese to collectively offer our thanks to our Benedictine brothers of Belmont Abbey for the role that they have played in the history and life of western North Carolina.”
Belmont Abbey’s president Dr. Jeff Talley thanked the bishop and the diocese for this new special collection. “It demonstrates Bishop Martin’s and the Diocese of Charlotte’s love and support for Belmont Abbey College as we continue to educate priests, deacons and laity for service to the Church and the world,” he said.
Donors who wish to direct their gift entirely to either institution may do so by mailing their contribution to the Diocese of Charlotte with the desired college noted in the memo line. Mail to: Diocese of Charlotte, 1123 S. Church St., Charlotte, NC 28203-4003.
To give online to the Belmont Abbey College collection, go to https://belmontabbeycollege.givevirtuous.org/donate/recurring-gift-page.
— Catholic News Herald