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Christ is among us! He is and always shall be!
My dearly-beloved brothers and siters in Christ:
Warm greetings to you during these summer days of grace.
It is with gratitude and joy that I announce the establishment of a Clergy Dependent Fund, created through the generosity of benefactors who desire to help care for the families and dependents of the priests who serve Christ and His Church throughout our Eparchy.
According to the ancient and venerable tradition of our Byzantine Catholic Church, many of our priests serve not only as spiritual fathers to their communities, but also as husbands and fathers within their own homes. Some also bear responsibility for aging parents or other dependent relatives. They embrace these obligations, while serving parishes and missions across the great distances of the American West.
Through this new Program, active parish priests of our Eparchy will be eligible to receive $200 each month for every legal dependent in their care. This assistance is funded entirely through the generosity of donors.
The purpose of the Program is simple but important: we want our priests to serve their people with peace of heart, knowing that the wider family of the Church stands beside them in caring for those whom God has entrusted to their love.
As the number of married clergy within our Eparchy is growing, the faithful and I began considering how we might support them in a more consistent and sustainable manner. I therefore established a committee composed of clergy, lay faithful, and members of the chancery staff. The committee first met on November 30, 2025, and, after several months of prayerful study and deliberation, presented its recommendation to the Holy Protection of Mary Foundation.
The Holy Protection of Mary Foundation, of which I serve as Chairman of the Board, will administer this Program. Established in 2014 as the charitable arm of our Eparchy and recognized as a 501(c)(3) organization, the Foundation supports works of faith, charity, and pastoral care throughout the West. For many years, it has quietly assisted seminarians, parishes, missions, and retired clergy. Through the Clergy Dependent Program, the Foundation now assumes a more visible role in supporting the present and future mission of our Eparchy.
In April 2026, the Foundation accepted the committee’s recommendation and formally established the Program. Through the remarkable generosity of its initial benefactors, more than $75,000 has already been contributed, fully funding the Program’s first year. It is my sincere hope and prayer that, with God’s blessing, this initiative will continue to grow and eventually become a permanent endowment dedicated to the care of our clergy families and dependents.
This announcement fittingly comes as we commemorate the Holy Fathers of the First Six Ecumenical Councils. The word ecumenical refers to the whole inhabited world, the household of humanity called to unity in the truth of Christ. At the Council of Ephesus, the Church solemnly confessed the Virgin Mary as Theotokos, the Mother of God, safeguarding the truth that Jesus Christ is one divine Person, truly God and truly man.
Through the mystery of the Incarnation, the eternal Son of God entered a human home and entrusted Himself to the loving care of the Theotokos and the righteous Joseph. The family thus became the first earthly dwelling place of the incarnate Lord. At the Cross, Christ entrusted His Mother to the beloved disciple, and the disciple to her, forming a new household of faith beneath the life-giving Tree.
In that same spirit, the Church is called to surround the families and dependents of her priests with gratitude, solidarity, and practical care. When we support those who share in the sacrifices of priestly ministry, we strengthen the mission of the entire Church.
To learn more about the Clergy Dependent Fund and the work of the Holy Protection of Mary Foundation, visit hpmfoundation.org
Through the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and the Holy Fathers who confessed Christ as true God and true man, may the Lord bless our priests, their families and dependents, our generous benefactors, and all the faithful of our missionary Eparchy.
Imparting my episcopal blessing upon you, I remain
Sincerely yours in Christ,
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