Item 5 - Fundraising appeal

1 p.; printed

A fundraising appeal issued by the Capuchin friars from St. Mary of the Angels Church in Ukiah, California. The letter highlights the vast growth and challenges of Catholicism in Mendocino County over the preceding decades, noting that only six priests are tasked with covering a massive, rugged territory of nearly 4,000 square miles. The Ukiah parish is particularly strained because its two priests also provide spiritual care for a local state hospital, a county hospital, a poor farm, six Indian Rancherias, Dominican Sisters, and an orphanage – mostly without financial compensation. To accommodate their growing congregation, the parish began constructing a new brick church in March 1923 to replace their small, inadequate lumber church. While the building is now nearing completion, a large debt remains. The document appeals to the broader Catholic community for financial donations, promising that one Holy Mass and the Holy Rosary will be offered monthly and nightly for all contributors.