The Catholic Communication Campaign (CCC) is not just another second collection taken up at parishes. This fund supports communication efforts in the Diocese of Buffalo as well as across the country. Half the money collected stays here and supports the work of the diocesan Office of Communications. The other 50 percent goes to the national office to support a variety of communications projects. This year, the annual collection will take place in parishes on the weekend of June 9 and 10.

In his World Communications Day message, Pope Benedict XVI urged Catholic youth to "make good use of their presence in the digital world." The CCC helps in this effort by providing grants to build Catholic social media pages as well as spread the Good News through podcasts, television, radio and print media. This work is also being done on the local level through the diocesan website, the Western New York Catholic, Daybreak TV Productions, diocesan radio programming and daily posts on Facebook and Twitter. There is also Daybreak’s YouTube channel, as well as diocesan radio podcasts and the annual Catholic Directory, the guide to all things Catholic in Western New York.

The funds collected from the campaign help the support the staff and the work of the men and women of the Communications office. With the almost daily advances in technology, they can bring news to you as it happens through social media and web postings. In May, the diocese’s radio director, Gregg Prince, brought streaming video of the Medicine Depot in Uganda. The pharmacy was built with donations to Reaching Out 2 Africa from parishes in the diocese. Prince attended the dedication and was able to provide daily Twitter and Facebook reports, send articles to the Western New York Catholic, stream video of the dedication and set up a meeting via Skype with Bishop Edward U. Kmiec and Bishop John Baptist Kaggwa of the Diocese of Masaka, Uganda.

The work of the diocesan Office of Communications doesn’t stop there. They are the point of connection to the bishop and the diocese for the secular media and also a resource for parishes and schools when a public relations issue arises.

"It’s important to remember," said Kristina M. Connell, manager of the Communications office, "that when you see the Western New York Catholic, hear a ‘Western New York Catholic Weekly’ radio show, watch Father Paul Seil cook on ‘Our Daily Bread,’ view the televised Mass, listen to a podcast or catch up on Facebook or Twitter, that is the work of the Communications office and that work could not be done without the support of Catholics in Western New York. Your donations are allowing us to bring the Good News to you."

To contribute to the Catholic Communication Campaign, participate in the collection at the parish level. Or, donations may be made by sending a check, made payable to the Diocese of Buffalo, to the Office of Communications at 795 Main St., Buffalo, 14203. Secure on-line donations also may be made on the diocesan website, www.buffalodiocese.org, by clicking on the "donate now" button on the diocesan homepage.