Your Diocese

ROMEOVILLE, IL — Whitney Houston once sang the lyric, “Children are the future,” in the song, “The Greatest Love of All,” and nowhere is this statement truer than in the Catholic Church. In an effort to reach to younger parishioners, the church has created groups and organizations designed to educate children in the different aspects of their faith.

However, since much of the Catholic faith cannot be taught from a book, children learn by doing. To that end, the Holy Childhood Association, a national organization which offers children the opportunity to pray for and donate money to needy children in other countries, plans to kick off their annual Lenten appeal on Ash Wednesday.

According to Art Leamy, who coordinates the program for the Diocese of Joliet, French Bishop Charles Forbin-Janson founded the Holy Childhood Association in 1843, after witnessing the depravation of poverty-stricken children during his travels to China.

Leamy said the bishop sympathized with the children in their weak condition. He knew instinctively that they needed care, despite the fact that they were rich in faith and love. Their commitment to faith seemingly defied their physical plight. These children played a part in the mission of the church, even to the point of inspiring the adults around them, said Leamy.

“Holy Childhood offers young Catholics an opportunity to grow in faith through mission education, sacrifice and service to others,” added Leamy, who has been working with the program for about eight years. The program also hopes to animate a missionary spirit within children, ages 4-13 by encouraging them to learn about the countries to which they are donating.

In addition, the association teaches children to respect other people’s differences and help those in need through love and faith. “It teaches them about the true meaning of the church and the responsibility we all share toward our brothers and sisters,” said Father William Cullen, retired pastor emeritus of Ascension of Our Lord Parish, Oakbrook Terrace, who served as director of the program before it was shifted to the diocesan Office of Peace and Social Justice.

According to Leamy, a membership in the association costs about $1.25 per child and entitles them to a membership card, subscription to the association’s newsletter, It’s Our World, and a membership guide for teachers that includes ideas for lesson plans, special activities and prayer services. “We also give them a map, so they can chart the countries where their donations are going,” added Leamy.

Throughout the year, the association chooses countries they feel are in special need of help, including Latin America, Africa and India. The children then donate money to that country by using special coin holders to collect funds in the classroom. “At the same time, they are learning about the country and what is going on there,” said Leamy.

Last year, the HCA’s Lenten Appeal raised over $2.2 million for children around the world. “This organization is a wonderful way for children to learn about their faith, while helping others at the same time,” added Father Cullen.

The country at the focus of this year’s Lenten appeal is Madagascar, an island off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. “We choose developing counties in need of help for our appeals, but we also want to give the children some variety, so they just aren’t learning about one country all the time,” said Mary Moore, a spokesperson for the national office of HCA.

While the association does offer suggestions on how to raise donations for the appeal, Moore said it was left up to the children to choose what sort of fund-raisers to hold. “Some schools hold bake sales, or will have a jeans day, where children will collect a dollar from anyone wearing them,” she said.

However, Holy Childhood Association is about much more than simply collecting money. Moore said the organization also encourages young people to draw correlations between their faith and the suffering experienced in Third World countries.

“For example, we suggest that fourth and fifth graders do the Stations of the Cross and talk about the suffering of Jesus. They would then relate that to the suffering of the children in Madagascar,” said Moore. The organization also sponsors a national prayer week, during the month of March, designed to further help children focus on the spiritual aspects of missionary work.