More than 250,000 Catholics have been reached through the Catholics Confront Global Poverty initiative, a joint effort by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services to address the root causes of global poverty through education and advocacy. In less than seven months, the initiative has reached one quarter of its goal to mobilize 1 million Catholics, according to a recent announcement from the USCCB and CRS, the U.S. bishops' overseas relief and development agency. The initiative calls on Catholics to learn about and share the stories of those struggling to rise above extreme poverty, to pray for the world's poorest people and to approach policymakers on the issue as advocates for the poor worldwide. Ken Hackett, CRS president, said in a statement, "In a world where an estimated 1.4 billion people live in extreme poverty, the message of the church is clear. As Catholics, we are called to help our brothers and sisters in need." Catholics Confront Global Poverty was launched in February 2009 in response to Pope Benedict XVI's 2009 message for the World Day of Peace, titled "Fighting Poverty to Build Peace."
http://www.georgiabulletin.org/world/2009/10/13/US-1/