Pope’s Peter’s Pence campaign

(June 27, 2009) Many parishes worldwide will participate in the Pope's charity campaign on Sunday through the Peter's Pence collection, the papal charity which distributes aid to those most in need. The collection traditionally takes place on the Sunday nearest the June 29^th feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, which this year falls on Monday, or on another day as designated by the local bishop. The money collected on this day will not fund the Holy See, but will be exclusively dedicated to aid the poorest local Churches. The Peter's Pence collection includes contributions from religious orders, societies of apostolic life and foundations, as well as donations from individual lay people. In 2007, this collection gathered almost $80 million, and in the previous year, over $100 million. The United States was the biggest donor, giving some 28% of the total, followed by Italy, Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Brazil and Korea. For example, Pope Benedict XVI gave a donation through the Vatican’s Pontifical Council Cor Unum to the people of Gaza after the post-Christmas violence and bombing. Some of the funds were allocated to aid farmers and indigenous people in Latin America through the Populorum Progressio Foundation, and another portion went to support development projects in sub-Saharan Africa through the John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel.