It is a signature that is sometimes put on in an elusive way, while the documents are handed over to the accountant for the tax return. It seems like a trivial matter, yet when you decide to tick the box that allows you to donate 8 per thousand to the Catholic Church you are helping to create incredible works that will make life easier for hundreds of thousands of people.
To get an idea, just take a look at the numbers released on 24 September last during the meeting of the Committee for charitable interventions in favor of the Third World. From the report presented it emerged that 52 projects have been approved to be implemented in every corner of the world, projects for which approximately ten million euros will be allocated. Of these 6,639,087 euros will go to Africa where 31 projects will be implemented; another two and a half million approximately, (2,472,092 to be exact) will go instead for 12 projects in Latin America, just over half a million euros (561,723) for 7 projects in Asia and, finally, 236,631 euros will allow the creation of a project in the Middle East and € 34,588 for another small project in Eastern Europe.
On the CEI website it is possible to read in detail what will be the most significant projects in the various areas of the world.
For example, the eight that will be built in Burkina Faso. It is not a question of building skyscrapers or works of very high engineering, but they are projects that mean "life", "hope" and "future".
"On the initiative of the Diocesan Caritas of Banfora - for example, the long note reads - the Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, which manages the" Luis Joseph Martin de Bounouna "Catholic High School, will build a well and prepare a garden for the cultivation of vegetables both for internal consumption and for external sale ". In the Western world, for many the idea of needing a well is very far away, but in the villages where it will be built it will mean the end of long journeys, on foot, to find water.
“In Ethiopia, the Opera San Francesco Saverio-Doctors with Africa CUAMM - it continues - will launch a structural and training intervention to adapt the St. Luke Hospital in Wolisso and its operators to the new needs that emerged in the context of the pandemic. In Mozambique, the diocese of Xai-Xai will build a Vocational Training and Social Promotion Center to offer courses and tools to local entrepreneurs. The Franciscan Tertiary Sisters, engaged for over 85 years in Africa on the health front, will open a pharmacy in Ntasen, Cameroon, which will also guarantee medicines to the area's hospitals ”.
Much will also be done in the field of children's schooling. For example in Congo. "In the Mpaka 120 district - it reads - the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians will build a middle school to ensure education for about 400 boys and girls between 11 and 17 years old".
That's not all: “In the diocese of Kampala, Uganda, thanks to the Sisters Servants of the Poor, a primary school will be built in Bujuuko for 300 children and 50 orphans. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Brothers of Charity will build a school for disabled children, while in the diocese of Luanda, Angola, the Consoling Sisters of Jesus Supreme and Eternal will contribute to reducing early school leaving and the marginalization of young people with a school of second cycle ".
Moving to Latin America, here are many other initiatives allowed by that simple cross on the tax return sheet. In Brazil, for example, the dioceses of Campanha and Estância will be able to restore and expand the “Nossa Senhora de Sion” multifunctional center and the “Santa Dulce dos Pobres” Social Center. Again, in Ecuador, "the National Giuseppini del Murialdo organization will be able to activate a school of environmental leadership and a socio-political leadership school in the provinces of Napo and Sucumbios".
The Missionary Sisters of St. Theresa of Infant Jesus - Sisters of Little Flower are tireless in their work in India: with the funds arriving they will be able to carry out the expansion and adaptation of the St. Joseph Hospital in Kannamaly. Instead, it is the Camillians in Eastern Europe who carry out a project on behalf of the Catholic Church: they will organize training courses for specialists in the new "Talita Kum" day rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, for other operators of the area, family members and caregivers.
Finally, in the Middle East, the AVSI Foundation will be able to support two institutes (“The Custody of the Holy Land” and “Effetà Institute”) in Bethlehem, Palestine. It will do this by granting scholarships to deserving students, helping families to pay tuition and will also be able to provide hearing aids for children in need and promote specialization courses.
It's just a signature, really, but you really need to stop and think about how little it takes sometimes to help make the world better.
