WASHINGTON, DC – At a recent Board of Governors meeting, the Board of Catholic Extension decided to discontinue the approved mission diocese status of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS). This means that the AMS will no longer benefit from the distributions of the Chicago-based charity. Over $1.7 million has been donated to the AMS through Catholic Extension since 2006. Most of the funding benefitted seminary formation for future Catholic chaplains.
His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, made the following statement. “I am very grateful for the past generosity of Catholic Extension to the global Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. After assuming responsibility for the AMS, I remember my first meeting with Cardinal George at Mundelein Seminary. As President of the USCCB, he was amazed that the AMS received no government funding. He continued to be generous to the AMS with both funds and priests.
“I confess that I will miss seeing Extension calendars in military chapels and the AMS co-sponsored seminarian program will immediately sense the absence of Extension generosity. Given that 17% of those ordained to the priesthood in the USA in 2018 have some military connection, I hope that past Extension donors might decide to contribute directly to the AMS (www.milarch.org ) in the future.”
