My Dear Priests and People,

I would like, first of all, to thank you most sincerely for your encouragement and your welcome when I visited your parish recently for the purpose of sharing with you my thoughts on the finances of the Diocese of Killala.

You will have seen in the Pastoral Letter which I wrote you in November 2006 that Diocesan Funds as such are only supported by two collections each year, namely The Bishop's Appeal which is held on St. Patrick's Day and the appeal for the Education of Priests and Seminarians. As St. Patrick's Day approaches I am turning to you once again to appeal for your support for the work of this diocese.

You will have noticed in the figures which I gave you for 2005 that the overall cost of running the diocese that year amounted to €279,784. The income from the Bishop's Appeal collection and the collection for the Education of Priests amounted to €90,889 which left a shortfall of €187,000. This shortfall was met by a direct levy of €20 on each household in the parishes of the dioceses. In an effort, therefore, to reduce the levy on the parishes I am making a special appeal to you for your support of the Bishop's Annual Appeal.

The Bishop's Appeal pays