Thousands across U.S. to answer Papal call to end hunger

Catholics across the United States will join a global "wave of prayer" that kicks off a campaign against hunger being launched by Pope Francis in a video released Dec. 9. In the Diocese of Corpus Christi, Bishop Michael Mulvey has encouraged Chancery staff and all the faithful to join in the prayer at the appointed time.

The campaign is sponsored by Caritas Internationalis, the global network of Catholic relief and development agencies, led in the United States by Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Charities USA. It responds to the more than 840 million people around the world who suffer from hunger.
 
At noon local time (19 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time) on Dec. 10, a global wave of prayer will begin on the Pacific island of Samoa and will cascade around the world through each time zone as people pause from their daily routines to pray to end world hunger. The prayer will continue until it reaches the island again roughly 24 hours and 164 countries later.
 
Gatherings to pray for an end to world hunger will take place at many Catholic institutions across the county including Notre Dame University in Indiana, Purdue University, Fordham University, Manhattan College and La Salle University in Philadelphia. 

?CRS staff around the world will be joining with their local church partners to pray in Latin America, Africa and Asia,? said Joan Rosenhauer, Catholic Relief Services Executive Vice President for U.S. Operations. ?CRS will follow up on the launch by combatting hunger through innovative agricultural development programs around the world and by mobilizing more than 15,000 parishes and schools to address global hunger during Lent through the CRS Rice Bowl program.?
  
For 70 years, CRS has been answering the call to combat hunger globally. CRS has 164 sustainable agricultural projects in 34 countries, using innovative approaches that combine health care, literacy and microfinance with proven agricultural practices. CRS? efforts are helping 26 million people feed themselves.  For more information, visit http://crs.org/food-for-all/