Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Santiago (Agenzia Fides) - Ash Wednesday 6 February will mark the beginning of the annual Lenten campaign promoted by the Bishops of Chile in aid of children in need. This year's slogan is “We are still outside”. The campaign, first proposed at a Bishops' meeting in 1981, was officially approved by the Standing Committee of the Bishops' Conference in 1994. The campaign aims to: encourage Catholics to live Lent with deeper awareness, in three dimensions, prayer, penance and acts of charity; expressing spiritual life and encounter with the Lord with a lifestyle which is austere and simple, promote charity towards the needy and collect funds for the Church's charitable works and help local funding .
Since 1982 the Campaign has been promoted in every diocese of Chile from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. It is coordinated by the Bishops' Conference which approves diocesan teams, controls the national fund and produces the necessary material. The Campaign is organised by the respect diocesan teams.
Funds collected are distributed at the discretion of the respective Bishop: 60 per cent is retained by the diocese for social action programmes; 10 per cent goes to fund the campaign and the remaining 30 per cent goes to the National Fund of Solidarity, an expression of national ecclesial communion and a sign of brotherhood in equity. Moreover the Bishops decided that 5 to 10 per cent of the national fund goes to a country, preferably in Latin America, with a special emergency. Since 2006 the Campaign has also supported programmes to assist children under 6 all over the country in conditions of poverty and social risk. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 5/2/2008; righe 24, parole 335)
