The Society for the Propagation of the Faith, a Pontifical Mission Society, announced the availability of the World Missions Visa Card. This credit card program will take everyday purchases and turn them into help for Catholic Church programs in more than 1,150 mission dioceses in the world’s poorest countries.
The World Missions Visa Card will be issued by Washington Mutual and has been developed in partnership with Follieri Capital, which provides financial products and services to Roman Catholic Church organizations in the United States. Through this credit card program, one percent of net purchases will be donated to the Propagation of the Faith. In addition, World Mission Visa cardholders will enjoy full Platinum Visa benefits, free on-line FICO(R) credit-score access, money saving coupons, online bill payment, zero fraud liability and no annual fee.
“We are very grateful to Washington Mutual and Follieri Capital for introducing this unique opportunity to help the Missions,” said Monsignor John E. Kozar, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States. “We encourage participation in this program whose donations will support the Church’s worldwide mission to bring help and hope to the suffering and the poor.”
More than a million Catholics in the United States are being contacted about the offer through a direct-mail campaign, as well as through advertisements in Catholic newspapers, in the next week, an effort that will expand over the coming months. You can also learn more about the World Missions Visa and find out how to apply at the web site of the Pontifical Mission Societies: http://www.worldmissions-catholicchurch.org .
Help generated from this program will support the Church’s pastoral and evangelizing mission in more than 120 countries throughout Asia, Africa, the Pacific Islands and Latin America, including support for educational and healthcare efforts. Just $10 generated from this program can buy clothing for 10 Catholic school children in the Sudan for a year; $4 buys enough food for one week for a kindergarten program in the Missions where children learn the basics and discover, through the service of local Sisters, the love of Jesus.
“Throughout the Missions, whether it’s at a Catholic orphanage or a rural health clinic, or through outreach to children or adults with HIV/AIDS, Propagation of the Faith support sustains local priests, Sisters and Brothers, and lay catechists who offer concrete help — and hold out the hope of our Lord — to the poor,” explained Monsignor Kozar. “With this credit card, Catholics here in our country can be part of our work — in effect missionaries here at home through their prayers and this financial assistance.”
THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE FAITH, a Pontifical Mission Society, promotes a universal missionary spirit; that is, an awareness of the Church’s worldwide missionary efforts and of each person’s vocation to be a missionary by virtue of his or her Baptism. The Propagation of the Faith seeks prayer and support for the Church’s missionary work in the Developing World and provides ongoing financial help for the pastoral and evangelizing programs of the Church in Africa, Asia, the islands of the Pacific and remote regions of Latin America. This includes aid for the education and support of seminarians, Religious novices and lay catechists; for the work of Religious Communities in education, health care and social services; for communication and transportation needs, and for disaster and emergency relief, when necessary. More than 90 percent of contributions gathered by the Propagation of the Faith go directly to the Church in the Missions, helping it serve the poor and those in need.
