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WHY DO WE HAVE AN ANNUAL APPEAL?
We are often asked about the purpose of the annual Catholic appeal, and why we depend on your yearly gift. Scroll down to see why the appeal is so important to Alaska’s faith community.
Your Gift
Supports the Catholic Community in Alaska
Your Gift
Supports the Following Missions
Safe Environment
The Office of Safe Environment assists the archbishop in coordinating abuse-prevention efforts, programs, and policies for children and vulnerable adults throughout the archdiocese.
Parishes/Missions
We have 21 parishes that are only accessible by plane or ferry and do not have a full-time resident priest. Your donation to the appeal helps pay for the travel of priests and deacons to fly and minister to the people.
Seminarians
The archdiocese helps support our seminarians while they attend seminary. As our priests get older and closer to retirement, it is important that we work toward vocations. Your donations help support our vocations department, as well as the seminarians currently enrolled.
Diaconate
Your donation helps support the training program for men who want to enter the diaconate. Training of these men is through the Archdiocese Diaconate Program.
Faith Formation
Your donation helps the Catholic Schools and Faith Formation Departments. The departments help train Directors of Faith Formation, as well as provide in-service days for Catholic School staff and teachers.
Tribunal
When asked the Tribunal conducts an investigation of a previous marriage according to the Code of Canon Law. If it finds the marriage is lacking the necessary qualities of a valid marriage, it will promulgate a Decree of Nullity (commonly called an “annulment”). Such declarations make it possible for a person who has been divorced to seek another marriage in the Catholic Church. It may also assist those who are already remarried civilly, as well as Catholics who are simply divorced and are seeking clarification of their status within the Church.
Hispanic Ministry
Pays for Spanish-speaking priests’ travel to parishes in Kodiak, Wasilla, Juneau, and Ketchikan as part of outreach to Hispanic parishioners in their native language. The office of Hispanic Ministry provides many services such as catechesis, counseling, as well as sacramental needs of the communities.
Catholic Native Ministry
The archdiocese supports Native ministry throughout the entire area and works to empower leadership in roles evangelization, worship, and cultural preservation.
Immigration Services
Your donation helps process and track the paperwork of foreign-born priests who are brought here to help meet the needs of the archdiocese.
United in Mission: Radiating Christ’s Love & Hope
“Hope, on the other hand, is a gift and a task for every Christian. It is a gift because it is God who offers it to us. Hoping, in fact, is not a mere act of optimism, like when we sometimes hope to pass an exam at university (“Let's hope we make it”) or when we hope for good weather for the trip out of town on a Sunday in the spring (“Let's hope for good weather”).
No, hoping is waiting for something that has already been given to us: salvation in God's eternal and infinite love. That love, that salvation that gives flavour to our lives and that constitutes the hinge on which the world remains standing, despite all the wickedness and nefariousness caused by our sins as men and women. To hope, then, is to welcome this gift that God offers us every day.
To hope is to savour the wonder of being loved, sought, desired by a God who has not shut Himself away in His impenetrable heavens but has made Himself flesh and blood, history and days, to share our lot.- Pope Francis”
– POPE FRANCIS
Most Reverend Andrew E. Bellisario,
C.M. Archbishop of Anchorage-Juneau
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always!
Christ calls us to be examples of his love and hope. The Annual Appeal United in Mission: Radiating Christ’s Love and Hope is a call for all of us to spread the gospel. By doing so through our actions and words we radiate Christ’s love and hope to all.
When speaking about the Jubilee year the Pope said, “We are called to be tangible signs of hope for those of our brothers and sisters who experience hardship of any kind.” We are blessed to have such a large archdiocese that is diverse and vibrant with its many cultures and locations. Your support of the annual appeal allows the Archdiocese to continue to support ministries and services to its people through out our archdiocese.
United in Mission: Radiating Christ’s Love and Hope is not just a theme for this year—it is the guiding principle that drives everything we do.
Through each program, each outreach, and every act of service, we strive to embody Christ’s love in action, sharing His hope with those who need it most.
We can’t do this alone and that is why I am grateful for the support for our annual appeal.
Please look through the appeal brochure and see how your gift can help those throughout the Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau. Please join me in participating in the 2025 Annual Catholic Appeal, United in Mission: Radiating Christ’s Love and Hope!
Sincerely in Christ,
Most Reverend Andrew E. Bellisario, C.M.
Archbishop of Anchorage-Juneau
Did you know?
When you give your annual appeal, it is safer and more secure to donate online than sending a check or cash in the mail.