Since its inception nearly 100 years ago, strengthening the faith in rural America has been a primary mission of Catholic Rural Life.
Father Edwin V. O’Hara
, then director of the National Catholic Welfare Conference’s Rural Life Bureau, was the spirit and energetic guide behind the National Catholic Rural Life Conference (now Catholic Rural Life). Through his study of Catholic rural education, O’Hara saw that the rural Church was underserved in terms of priests, churches, hospitals and Catholic schools. He felt this was part of a pattern of overall neglect in which Church authorities gave little attention to the social, economic or religious problems of rural Catholics.
The faith in rural areas intimately ties itself to the rhythms of the natural world, and the devotions of those in the countryside take on a unique flavor due to that intermingling. Catholic Rural Life recognizes and honors that distinctness, and has developed a number of spiritual resources to strengthen that faith.
Visit our Spiritual Resources page for a number of excellent printables, many of them free, created to help continue Archbishop Edwin V. O’Hara’s vision of a vibrant Church in rural America.
Like what you see? Consider becoming a member today.
