RALEIGH — The Diocese of Raleigh has contributed $167,441.49 to the annual Pontifical Good Friday Collection, offering vital support to Christians and sacred sites in the Holy Land during a time of ongoing hardship.
In a recent letter to Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama, Father John Puodziunas, OFM, commissary of the Holy Land, expressed gratitude for the diocese’s generosity, noting that the gift comes “at the exact moment our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land are facing a time of great difficulty.”
The Pontifical Good Friday Collection supports the work of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, which for more than 800 years has safeguarded Christianity’s most sacred shrines. The collection also funds parish ministries, educational initiatives, and social services that sustain a Christian presence in the region.
“In the face of conflict, there is a great need for hope and solidarity,” Father Puodziunas wrote, emphasizing that the Diocese of Raleigh’s contribution helps provide both to families in need.
The Franciscan friars rely on the worldwide Church’s support to continue preserving holy sites and accompanying local Christian communities. Their ministry includes caring for pilgrims, maintaining shrines, and serving vulnerable populations through charitable outreach.
Father Puodziunas assured Bishop Zarama of the friars’ prayers and asked that the faithful of the Diocese of Raleigh continue to remember the Christians of the Holy Land in their own prayers.
The Pontifical Good Friday Collection is taken up annually in Catholic parishes around the world, inviting the faithful to stand in solidarity with the Church in the land of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.