Pittsburgh Diocese establishes ‘Cabrini Fund’ to help immigrant families facing hardship

The fund will help with rent, utilities, food and other basic necessities, the diocese said.

The Diocese of Pittsburgh said this week that it is establishing an emergency initiative called the “Cabrini Fund” to help immigrant families address what Bishop Mark Eckman called their “hardest moments” including the loss of household providers.

The announcement, made on Nov. 13 — the memorial of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini — said the fund is meant to address what the diocese said is a “growing need” to help immigrants in crisis in western Pennsylvania.

It will offer “temporary emergency assistance” to immigrant families in the diocese who are facing “extraordinary hardship.” The diocese said that the fund is meant to function as a last resort after “other sources of assistance” have already been utilized.

It will offer immigrant families money for rent, utilities, medical care, food, clothing, diapers and other essentials.

The families served by the fund will also be connected with “trusted partners” to help address long-term needs, including “employment, schooling, health care, and qualified legal help.”

“The Church cannot solve every difficulty a family may face, but we can make sure that no family faces its hardest moments alone,” Eckman said in announcing the fund.

The diocese will begin distributing funding on Dec. 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It will be administered by the diocesan Catholic Charities affiliate and funded by donations through either the charity or via individual parishes.

As with much of the rest of the country, Pennsylvania has seen an uptick in immigration enforcement over the last few years, with authorities there detaining and at times deporting immigrants in the country illegally.

The diocese said immigrant families in Pennsylvania are facing crises that include “the loss of a Household’s provider” as well as “fear and uncertainty for their children.”

The title of the fund refers to St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American to be canonized and the founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

In 1950, Pope Pius XII officially named her the patron saint of immigrants, recognizing her lifelong dedication to displaced and marginalized communities.