The Archdiocese of Washington’s Catholic Impact publication highlights the outreach of the Catholic Church in the Washington region, particularly in the areas of education, charity and healing. In his opening letter for the document, Cardinal Donald Wuerl notes that Catholics have done this work since the very beginning of the Church, and still do today.

“In the first centuries of the Catholic experience, various writers sought to explain to the world what we are all about,” he writes. “Tertullian, Justin Martyr and others told of a diverse people from every socio-economic background, who followed a way of serving and caring for others, providing a witness of love and truth that they learned from Jesus of Nazareth.”

When a devastating epidemic hit Rome in the second-century, many people fled the city, abandoning the sick. But the Catholic community stayed to care for those whom had been left to die in the streets, because they had been taught by Jesus to love their neighbor as themselves and to celebrate the dignity of the human person, made in the image of God.

That same teaching still motivates the 655,000 Catholics in this archdiocese today. They come from all over the world, reflecting the meaning of the name “catholic,” which comes from the Greek word for “universal.” Mass is celebrated in 20 different languages each week, providing the diverse Church with the opportunity to worship in the language they know best, before going out into the world to serve others.

Each year, in the Archdiocese of Washington alone, Catholic schools serve 26,000 students and give out $6 million in annual tuition assistance. Catholic Charities serves more than 142,000 men, women and children, and Catholic hospitals and health care workers provide millions of dollars of charitable care. Catholic organizations are the largest non-government providers of social services in the national capital region.

During this difficult time in the Church, Catholic Impact will serve to remind the faithful and all those in the Washington region of the work that is truly at the heart of the Church’s mission – uniting everyone to love and serve those in need, as Jesus did.

To read Catholic Impact, check with your parish or school for a print copy, or view the content online at adw.org. Follow #catholicimpact on social media for videos, snippets from the booklet, and images of Catholic education, charity and healing.