Missionary Cooperation Appeal

July 25th/26th Weekend

during all Masses

Click here to give online

A Mission of Mercy in the Universal Church

The Bishop Iruthayaraj Foundation was established in Columbus, Ohio, in 2024 to honor the life and Christ-centered legacy of Bishop Savarinathen Iruthayaraj. With the support of Church leaders including Bishop Earl K. Fernandes of Columbus, Ohio, and Archbishop Antonysamy Savarimuthu of Madurai, India, the foundation continues a mission rooted in Catholic faith, pastoral charity, and solidarity with vulnerable Christian communities.

This appeal invites our parishioners to participate in the missionary life of the Church. In the Gospel, Jesus tells us, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these… you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). The Church’s missionary call is not only local; it is universal. When a parish in the United States supports communities in need abroad, it becomes visibly united with the suffering, the hopeful, and the faithful across the world. This is shared missionary responsibility in action.

The foundation’s work focuses on concrete needs that are both spiritual and human. Today, 5,000+ children receive education annually through supported efforts. 200+ youth have received vocational support and training. 50+ parish communities have been strengthened through pastoral and community assistance. The mission also helps support rural clinics, clean water projects, seminarians and altar servers, and the development of mission churches, faith-formation centers, and sacred spaces.

One documented example comes from Zambia, where a borehole project brought clean water to a community that had previously gone without a nearby source for 20 miles. After the borehole was installed, schoolchildren were seen drinking clean water for the first time. That moment is more than an image of relief; it is a sign of restored dignity, health, and hope. A gift from a Catholic community far away can become a cup of clean water, a healthier childhood, and a visible expression of Christ’s love.

Another example comes from Ayalpatti in India, where parish and community projects have included chapel and altar inauguration, presbytery and chapel improvements, sacred space development, and the Blessed Mother’s grotto. These are not luxuries. In under-resourced communities, sacred spaces support prayer, worship, catechesis, pastoral life, and the endurance of faith itself. They strengthen the Church where people gather not only for Mass, but also for encouragement, formation, and service.

This appeal also comes with a gentle urgency. Many Christian communities continue to live amid hardship, under-resourced institutions, and concern over persecution. Some areas still lack reliable clean water. Some schools, parishes, and pastoral facilities remain unfinished or insufficient for the communities they serve. Some faithful young people need formation, encouragement, and practical support as they discern service to the Church. Many communities have been helped; many others are still waiting.

In this light, a donation does more than fund a program. It helps educate children, strengthens parish life, supports future Church leaders, assists healthcare and clean water access, and sustains communities whose faith remains strong even in difficulty. It is a way for parishioners in the United States to stand in communion with brothers and sisters they may never meet, yet to whom they are joined in Christ.

Mother Teresa often reminded the Church to recognize Christ in the poorest and most vulnerable. This mission appeal is an invitation to do exactly that: to see, to accompany, and to help. By supporting the Bishop Iruthayaraj Foundation, parishioners participate in a work of mercy that is missionary, Catholic, and deeply human.

What Your Gift Makes Possible

• Helps support education for 5,000+ children annually

• Helps provide vocational support and training for 200+ youth

• Helps strengthen 50+ parish communities

• Helps sustain rural clinics and healthcare outreach

• Helps expand clean water access, including communities where water has been scarce or distant

• Helps support seminarians and altar servers as future servants of the Church

• Helps build and improve mission churches, faith-formation centers, chapels, presbyteries, and other sacred spaces

• Helps connect U.S. parishioners with vulnerable Christian communities through the shared mission of the universal Church

Clean Water and Human Dignity

Helps expand clean water access, including communities where water has been scarce or distant.

Above: Schoolchildren in Zambia receive clean water after the borehole project in a community where water had once been unavailable for 20 miles.

Healthcare and Practical Mercy

Helps sustain rural clinics and healthcare outreach.

Above: A health outreach from visiting physicians becomes a work of mercy, bringing medicine, care, and hope to vulnerable communities.

Education for Children

Helps support education for 5,000+ children annually.

Above: Mission support helps children and families remain rooted in faith, learning, and hope.

Early Learning and Young Lives

Helps strengthen educational opportunity for children in under-resourced communities.

Above: Young children in school remind us that missionary generosity helps form lives at their very beginning.

Youth Formation at the Altar

Helps support seminarians, altar servers, and the faith formation of young people in parish life.

Above: In the Diocese of Palayamkottai, a first-ever altar server training program reached 1,570 children across five vicariates, helping deepen reverence, discipline, and spirituality while making parish liturgies more prayerful and meaningful.

Vocational Formation and Community Stability

Helps provide vocational support and training for 200+ youth.

Above: Building hope also means creating places where young people and families can grow in dignity, formation, and service.

Parish Life and Sacred Space

Helps build and improve mission churches, faith-formation centers, chapels, presbyteries, and other sacred spaces.

Above: In under-resourced communities, sacred spaces help sustain worship, catechesis, pastoral life, and the endurance of faith.

Marian Devotion and Catholic Identity

Helps strengthen parish communities through visible signs of prayer, devotion, and hope.

Above: The Blessed Mother’s grotto in Ayalpatti stands as a visible sign of prayer, devotion, and hope.

Community Celebration and Living Faith

Helps strengthen 50+ parish communities through pastoral and community assistance.

Above: Chapel and altar inauguration in India: signs of a living faith sustained through solidarity and missionary support.

New Beginnings in Mission

Helps connect U.S. parishioners with vulnerable Christian communities through the shared mission of the universal Church.

Above: When U.S. Catholics give, they participate in the universal Church’s mission of Christ-centered service and help open new paths of hope.