COVID-19 Works of Mercy Grants

Catholic Extension Society is introducing a process for dioceses to submit small grant requests that allow your local churches to engage in acts of corporal and spiritual mercy among the poor who are reeling from the economic, psychological, and spiritual effects of COVID-19.

So often, in moments of disaster and economic downturn, the suffering among the poor, marginalized and vulnerable is particularly severe. Certainly, in the weeks and months ahead, your faith communities serving this population, will be called upon to provide pastoral responses to care for the spiritual and human needs of your people.

We know that this is particularly challenging to commit to additional activities when parishes have been closed and are receiving little or no income. Hence, the creation of this program.

Here are the guidelines:

What to request:

  • Funding that responds to an immediate pastoral or human need among the poorest communities of your diocese.
  • Funding that supports spontaneous or short-term projects related to COVID-19.
  • Funding that supports urgent needs emerging in your communities.
  • Funding for ministry within the social distancing guidelines of your local government.
  • Funding that supports outreach coordinated by parishes or relevant diocesan offices.
  • Funding that amounts to $15,000 or less to support a particular project.

What not to request through this program:

  • Funding for regular diocesan/parish operations.
  • Funding to make up for lost revenue.
  • Funding for previously executed programs.
  • Funding for media and technology for outreach such as website, livestream cameras, or buying airtime.
  • Funding for expenses not directly related to works of mercy.

How to make a request:

Important Information on Funding Decisions:

  • There is no existing fund to make immediate grant decisions, therefore we cannot offer a specific timetable, nor can we make an estimate of how many requests we will ultimately be able to fund. 
  • Catholic Extension Society’s ability to fund anything that is presented to us through this new program, will be entirely tied to our ability to raise funds for these projects among our donors.

If you have any questions about grant reallocation, please feel free to contact our mission team at mission@catholicextension.org.