About Us

Catholic Church Extension Society

Building the Catholic Faith in America’s Missions

The Catholic Church Extension Society exists to sustain and extend the Catholic Faith in poor and remote mission areas of the United States where diocesan resources are insufficient. Catholic Extension builds national awareness and raises funds for the Church's needs in these communities so as to enable the essential mission of Catholic evangelization.

Catholic Extension is the leading supporter of Catholic missions in the United States. Since its founding in 1905, more than $450 million has been raised and distributed to assist struggling parishes and missions in almost every diocese of the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Today many of those dioceses are self-sufficient, but more than one-third continue to receive help from Catholic Extension.

The 2005-06 fiscal year set a record for mission aid with the distribution of $20.7 million in grants to 84 dioceses for church building and repair, seminarian education, missionary subsidies, catechetics, evangelization, and other needs. Catholic Extension does not benefit from a national Church collection but relies solely on the generosity of thousands of individuals throughout the country who want to help Build the Catholic Faith in America's Missions.