On September 29, the Archbishop of Philadelphia, Mons. Nelson Pérez, announced the designation of several “missionary centers” throughout the Archdiocese, as part of a broad effort to help the Catholics away to return to the Church in the United States.
The initiative comes after the presentation, at the beginning of this 2025, of the 10 -year pastoral plan destined to attract Catholics again to temples. In January, the archdiocese reported that this effort would be implemented “in phases” throughout the region.
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One of the main characteristics of the campaign, explained the Archdiocese this Monday, September 29, is the creation of five “missionary centers” in parishes located in the four main counties of the region – Dellaware, Bucks, Montgomery and Chester – as well as in the Philadelphia County itself.
These parishes will serve as “a new method of evangelization, fundamental to reach Catholics who no longer regularly attend Mass and others who seek a spiritual connection in their lives and a space to serve those in need.”
“Following the example of Jesus Christ, we are moving to find all our brothers and sisters where they are. I want everyone to know that they are not alone and that they will always have a home in the Catholic Church,” Pérez said in A statement.
The centers will have people trained under the guidance of the pastor, and teams that will work to “respond to the specific needs and priorities of the people who live in the neighborhoods of that parish and beyond”. The designation of these centers was the result of “dozen of meetings” with hundreds of Catholics throughout the year.
According to the archdiocese, the parishes will use pastoral, educational and charitable ministries to “reach people who feel away from the Church.”
“Catholic. Every day”
In addition to the missionary centers, the archdiocese will launch a marketing campaign called “Catholic. Every day”, which will be broadcast on local television and radio channels, and will also appear in advertising fences and bus stops.
The archdiocese described the initiative as a “wide marketing and advertising campaign, privately funded, which will cover Philadelphia and its suburbs.”
The ads, financed by donors, will show “the many faces of Catholicism in the region” and will be developed in several phases until July 2026, coinciding with great events in the region, such as the FIFA World Cup and the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the United States Foundation.
“This campaign will remind Catholics of their rich legacy of service to others in Philadelphia, while presenting our message to new audiences fresh and attractive,” said Pérez.
The Archbishop added in the statement that the Church in Philadelphia “has 1.5 million Catholics, directly helps hundreds of thousands of people through our schools and charitable ministries, and has an economic impact of more than one billion dollars a year.”
The organizers want to “highlight the broad scope of the compassionate and worthy service that we offer to people of various traditions of faith and life contexts,” he added.
Archdiocesan spokesman Kenneth Gavin said to CNA – Ewtn News English – at the beginning of this year that all the effort will be funded mainly with “private philanthropic funds achieved over time and, hopefully, endowed for its long -term sustainability”.
“The Archbishop recognizes the urgency of reaching 83% of the baptized Catholics who do not regularly practice their faith, at the same time that it is served more effectively and 17% that does assist Mass,” he said.
Translated and adapted by ACI Press. Originally published in CNA.
Daniel Payne
Daniel Payne is a senior editor of Catholic News Agency. He previously worked at College Fix and Just the News. He lives in Virginia with his family.