An “outstretched hand to an oft forgotten people.” That was how Bishop Joseph Vath, the first Bishop of Birmingham, initiated the original Catholic Charities Drive in its earliest days. While the outstretched hand continues its reach, our Annual Catholic Charities and Communities Appeal of today has grown to include a strong base of ministries to serve the evangelistic mission of our diocese. 

These ministries fill voids in people’s lives every day - voids left by poverty, by hardship, by emotional isolation and spiritual desolation. And, they work to foster and support our next generation of priests and religious orders, enhancing the shared experience of sacred liturgies across our diocese and providing a foundation for religious education and faith formation. 

​Catholic Social Services, Family Services, Catholic Schools, Vocations and Sacred Liturgy are but a few of our ministries that build up the Body of Christ in our communities, today and for lifetimes to come.

leadership

Bishop Steven J. Raica

Bishop of Birmingham

Please note that many organizations around the world use the name, “Catholic Charities,” but there is no affiliation with any of those organizations and “Catholic Charities and Communities” of the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama. Your partnership and generous support enable our diocese to reach beyond the confines of individual parishes, reaching all in the care of the Bishop of Birmingham, throughout northern and central Alabama.