WASHINGTON, DC — This year, for the first time ever, the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS), has raised more than $100,000 in its annual AMS Day of Giving campaign. The funds, donated by hundreds of generous benefactors over the past week, will support Team Saint Paul (TSP)—a steadily growing apostolate of the AMS, and committed to a common purpose: to accompany young adults in the U.S. Military by forming authentic relationships on the installations where they serve, leading to genuine discipleship with Christ.
The AMS Day of Giving is held annually on July 21 to commemorate the date in 1986 when the AMS, erected by Pope Saint John Paul II, established operations in the Nation’s Capital. Since Sunday, July 21, 501 benefactors have given more than $105,000 to the 2024 campaign, breaking the previous record of $86,466 from 466 donors last year. Calling the 2024 AMS Day of Giving “an unprecedented success,” AMS Director of Advancement Salvador (Sal) Perez extended his “heartfelt gratitude” to the magnanimous donors who contributed to this year’s campaign.
TSP was created in 2021 by His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, in response to the Holy See’s call for a New Evangelization. “No believer in Christ, no institution of the Church can avoid this supreme duty,” Pope Saint John Paul II declared in his 1990 encyclical, Redemptoris Missio: “to proclaim Christ to all peoples.” Last year at the Vatican, Pope Francis told a gathering that evangelization “does not begin by seeking to convince others, but by bearing witness each day to the love that has watched over us and lifted us back up.”
AMS Young Adult Missionary Coordinator McKenzie Mauss leads TSP, coaching members on how to bear witness in their daily lives. “It has been an honor to be a part of the growth of Team Saint Paul,” she said. “From two missionaries in June of last year to seven, in all, set to be sent to begin ministry this fall, I am always amazed at people’s ‘yes’ to serve those who serve.”
Currently, three commissioned TSP members are active at their assigned locations: Ms. Caroline McDermott and Ms. Regina Fontana at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, and Ms. Jurate Reventas at Travis Air Force Base (AFB) in California. Another four, including Ms. Juliana Gahr, Ms. Ashley Rivera, and the first two men to join TSP, Mr. Peter Bockrath and Mr. Noah Mize, a former U.S. Marine, are set to be commissioned by Archbishop Broglio in September following two weeks of training at the Edwin Cardinal O’Brien Pastoral Center, the AMS home base, in Washington, DC. Ms. Gahr and Ms. Rivera will be assigned to Travis AFB, Mr. Bockrath and Mr. Mize to Fort Campbell.
“Witnessing the impact of Team Saint Paul at Travis Air Force Base and Fort Campbell,” Mrs. Mauss said, “has been an incredible blessing. The mere presence of young people excited to live out their faith and intentionally care about cultivating relationships has sparked a change of heart among the active duty communities. Missionaries have been able to witness people return to the sacraments and receive Christ for the first time in the Eucharist. It is one of my greatest joys to accompany the missionaries in this journey.”
Funds raised in the 2024 AMS Day of Giving will support training, logistics, travel, retreats, and other TSP ministries. It’s not too late to contribute. Gifts are gratefully accepted through Monday, July 29, at givingday.milarch.org.
Each TSP member is individually responsible for raising money to cover living expenses, ranging from $3,000 to $4,000 per month. To support an individual TSP member, visit milarch.org/
Anyone interested in becoming a Team Saint Paul member may apply at milarch.org/missionaries/.
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