Que: Good day Padre, please why is it that Catholics don’t help each other, we prefer donations than helping the needy around us while pentecostal churches look out for their own

Thank you first for being open enough in asking your questions. However, your question begs alot of questions.

When you say “Catholics” do you mean in the individual sense or as a Church? Irrespective of what you meant, factually:

As individual, I know Catholics who help Catholics and also go out of their way to help none Catholics. So, they help human beings irrespective of their Christian denomination, faith or religion. Infact, some come to me and say “use this to money, bags of rice, clothes, etc to help the poor.” And so, I do.

Christ told us that when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing (Matt 6:3). So, Catholic Church generally follows this principle such that in terms of charity, without investigation and closeness, you may not know what she is doing.

Therefore, as a Church, the Catholic Church does a lot of charity locally and internationally.

Locally, in the Archdiocese of Onitsha and precisely at Sacred Heart Parish Odoakpu, the parish pastored by Fr. Martin Ikeagu does a lot of charity works through JDPC. They have at one time bought a car truck for a parishioner in order to support him, and many other forms of charity.

In my parish Blessed Iwene Tansi, Awada, the parish have paid house rents for youths, families and others which runs into a year rent individually and collectively, above and below. They have paid school fees of many children and paid hospital bills, gave business supports financially that run in hundreds of thousands, they have even started businesses for various persons, etc. These are what Fr. Dr. Oburota Augustine , the current parish priest and his fellow priests do regularly within the parish limit.

I have someone close to me who got university scholarship from Archbishop Valerian Okeke, the Archbishop of Onitsha and that scholarship ran till the person finished Bachelors degree program in the university. At investigation, it was found out that the person wasn’t the only one involved, but one among many and such continues.

Remember, these examples are not limited to only Catholics but extended.

The same goes for many Catholic dioceses in Nigeria and beyond. Anyone who cares to know about charity in these diocese, could investigate them.

But where do these money come from? Some of them come from the donations that were made in the Church. Some come from money they got from people for charity purposes, and some from their tiny private pockets meant for their personal upkeep.

So, you are right that Catholics do donations but I can’t say that you are right to say that Catholics don’t help each other. As Catholics either means individual Catholics or Catholic Church. Whichever you meant, the above shows that you are wrong.

So, from where did you get the inductive conclusion that Catholics do not help each other?

If that isn’t what you actually meant, then what do you mean?

© Fr. Henry Charles Umelechi , 2024

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