Cardinal singles out Barrington parish for helping Puerto Rico

Cardinal Blase Cupich singled out a Barrington church's parishioners for their generosity in trying to help nuns who work in the poorest areas of Puerto Rico while he was visiting the U.S. territory this week.

In a tweet on Twitter, Cupich documented his traveling party delivering a $40,000 check to the Dominican Sisters of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima. He credited St. Anne Catholic Community's members for giving the money to Catholic Extension, which is using an overall $400,000 for emergency relief for Hurricane Maria victims in Puerto Rico's poor communities.

St. Anne's pastor, the Rev. Bernie Pietrzak, said the fundraising for Puerto Rico began well before the hurricane struck in September. He said the money originally was targeted for a building project and then redirected toward helping with drinking water, food and other needs for the hurricane victims.

"We're delighted to be mentioned (by Cupich), but even more so I think we feel honored and privileged to be able to assist the people and the sisters of Puerto Rico in these very challenging times," Pietrzak said.

Cupich visited devastated sections of Puerto Rico and met religious men and women on behalf of Pope Francis from Dec. 3-6. He presented the $40,000 raised by St. Anne for Catholic Extension to the nuns while in Guanica, Puerto Rico.

Led by the Rev. Jack Wall, Catholic Extension is a Chicago-based papal society. Its mission is to build churches and strengthen the Catholic church in the poorest area of the United States.