Washington State Catholic Conference

For those affected by the Spokane Complex Fire and other fires across Eastern Washington, help is still available.

Catholic Charities Eastern Washington is providing support including short- and long-term housing, grocery and gas gift cards, clothing and hygiene supplies, counseling for children and families, pet-care assistance, diapers, and case management services.

If you or someone you know needs assistance, visit the fire assistance portal:

🔗 https://www.cceasternwa.org/fire-assistance

The WSCC is grateful for the ongoing work of Catholic Charities Eastern Washington and all those continuing to accompany families through displacement, loss, and recovery. Please share this resource so it can reach those who need it most.

Spokane Complex Fire and Eastern Washington Fires:

Need assistance?

Visit our fire assistance portal to find help at www.cceasternwa.org/fire-assistance

Items we can offer:
- Short term and long term housing (hotels and Airbnb)
- Grocery store/gas gift cards
- Clothes and personal hygiene supplies
- Mental health counseling for kids and families
- Assistance with pet care needs
- Diapers and wipes
- Case management services

Our brothers and sisters in Spokane still need our prayers, solidarity, and support.

Hundreds of structures have been lost to the Spokane Complex fires, families have been displaced, and some are facing the difficult work of rebuilding their lives. Catholic Charities Eastern Washington continues to respond with emergency assistance, including housing, essential supplies, counseling, and other support for those affected.

As Catholics, we are called not only to accompany our neighbors in prayer, but also to respond generously when they are in need.

Please consider supporting the Catholic Charities Eastern Washington Emergency Fund:

🔗 https://give.cceasternwa.org/give/511873 #!/donation/checkout

The WSCC continues to stand in solidarity with the people of Spokane and all those affected by these devastating fires. Please keep them, first responders, volunteers, and all who are serving these communities in your prayers.

The entire CCEW community offers its prayers and support to all who have been displaced or impacted by the devastating wildfires that have gripped our community. Many of our clients and residents have been affected. Over 600 structures, many of them family homes, have already been lost. That number will likely grow. Some of our own Catholic Charities staff have lost their homes as well.

Catholic Charities Eastern Washington has set up an emergency fund to help support the individuals, and families impacted by the Spokane Complex wildfires in our region. In this moment of great challenge, we need your help. Please consider making an investment in helping those in need during this crisis. Your donation will help our Emergency Response team provide essential items, housing, counseling, support and short/long term assistance to those impacted by this devastating fire. This is a moment where we are asking for our entire community to lean in with us during this very difficult moment.

Donate at https://give.cceasternwa.org/give/511873 #!/donation/checkout 💚

Washington Catholics: Urge our U.S. senators to protect programs that fight hunger at home and around the world.

The U.S. Senate has begun discussing its version of the 2026 Farm Bill, a major law affecting food and nutrition programs in the United States and across the globe.

Catholic Relief Services is asking advocates to urge senators to protect and strengthen programs that help families put food on the table. Although the House version preserved key international food-security and nutrition programs, CRS reports that it did not do enough to protect and strengthen SNAP, the nation’s largest anti-hunger program.

The decisions Congress makes will affect children, parents, and communities already facing poverty, conflict, disasters, and rising food costs. As Catholics, we are called to ensure that compassion, solidarity, and care for vulnerable people remain at the heart of the Farm Bill.

Contact your senators through the Catholic Relief Services link:

🔗 https://www.crs.org/act/farm-bill-local-global?ms=advcrs0226fmb00fea00

As the public policy voice of Washington’s Catholic bishops, the WSCC helps Catholics bring their faith into public life and advocate for Life, Justice, Peace, human dignity, and the common good.

Be a Catholic voice. Together, we can make a difference.

Catholic Charities Eastern Washington is providing direct assistance to individuals and families affected by the Spokane Complex Fire and other fires across Eastern Washington.

Available support may include temporary housing, grocery and gas gift cards, clothing and hygiene supplies, counseling for children and families, pet-care assistance, diapers, and case-management services.

Those in need can visit the fire assistance portal here:

🔗 https://www.cceasternwa.org/fire-assistance

The WSCC is grateful for the compassionate work of Catholic Charities Eastern Washington and all those accompanying communities through loss, displacement, and recovery. Please share this resource so it can reach those who need support.

Spokane Complex Fire and Eastern Washington Fires:

Need assistance?

Visit our fire assistance portal to find help at www.cceasternwa.org/fire-assistance

Items we can offer:
- Short term and long term housing (hotels and Airbnb)
- Grocery store/gas gift cards
- Clothes and personal hygiene supplies
- Mental health counseling for kids and families
- Assistance with pet care needs
- Diapers and wipes
- Case management services

The WSCC joins the Archdiocese of Seattle in inviting Catholics to gather with Archbishop Paul D. Etienne for a Mass for Peace at St. James Cathedral.

As communities near and far face violence, grief, and division, let us come together in prayer for those who suffer, for healing and reconciliation, and for the courage to become instruments of Christ’s peace.

Thursday, August 6 at 12:00 PM
St. James Cathedral, Seattle

As the public policy voice of Washington’s Catholic bishops, the WSCC works to advance Life, Justice, Peace, human dignity, and the common good. Please join us in praying for peace in our communities and throughout the world.

Join Archbishop Paul D. Etienne and all those who hope for peace in our world today for the annual Mass for Peace. Each year, we gather to commemorate the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan in 1945 with nuclear weapons. We will pray for a world without nuclear weapons. With the ongoing wars and the continuous threat of war throughout the world, we will also pray for peace.

The August 5 Catholic Advocacy Bulletin invites Washington Catholics to take action on three urgent federal issues affecting human dignity and the common good.

Congress is being asked to support H.J. Res. 187, which would stop the WISeR pilot’s use of AI-driven prior authorization for certain Traditional Medicare services. Since the program began, seniors in Washington have reported significant barriers to receiving necessary medical care.

The bulletin also calls for continued congressional discussion of the Dignity Act as a step toward humane immigration reform and urges senators to support S. 4814 to protect vulnerable Haitian families facing the loss of Temporary Protected Status.

Readers will also find upcoming opportunities to learn and engage, including WSCC webinars on artificial intelligence and immigration and the October 3 Catholic Immigration Summit.

🔗 Read the full Catholic Advocacy Bulletin, available in both English and Spanish:
https://wacatholics.org/action-center/?vvsrc=%2fnewsletters

As the public policy voice of Washington’s Catholic bishops, the WSCC helps Catholics bring their faith into public life and advocate for Life, Justice, Peace, human dignity, and the common good.

Be a Catholic voice. Together, we can make a difference.

Today, the WSCC joins Bishop Thomas Daly, the Catholic Diocese of Spokane, and communities across Eastern Washington in prayer for all those affected by the devastating fires.

We pray for families grieving what has been lost, for those displaced from their homes, and for everyone carrying fear, exhaustion, and uncertainty. We also ask God to protect and strengthen the firefighters, first responders, medical professionals, clergy, volunteers, and neighbors responding with courage and compassion.

The Church is called to stand with those who suffer, to pray without ceasing, and to remind one another that even amid ashes and heartbreak, Christ has not abandoned His people.

Please join Catholics across Washington in praying for the people of Spokane, and share this prayer so they may know they are not alone.

Those able to provide material support can donate to Catholic Charities Eastern Washington’s Spokane Complex Fire Support effort:

🔗 https://give.cceasternwa.org/give/511873 #!/donation/checkout

As the public policy voice of Washington’s Catholic bishops, the WSCC works to advance Life, Justice, Peace, human dignity, and the common good—including standing in solidarity with our neighbors in times of profound suffering.

The WSCC joins Bishop Thomas Daly and the Catholic Diocese of Spokane in prayer for all those affected by the devastating fires in the Spokane area.

We grieve with the families and communities carrying unimaginable loss, and we pray for first responders, parish communities, volunteers, and all who are helping their neighbors through this crisis.

As the public policy voice of Washington’s Catholic bishops, the WSCC stands in solidarity with those who are suffering and remains committed to protecting human dignity and advancing the common good. May Christ bring comfort amid the devastation, strength for the days ahead, and hope as these communities begin to rebuild.

There are moments when words are not enough. Yet even here, Christ remains present.

“I thought not of buildings or structures, but of the people of our diocese; the families carrying burdens too heavy for words. In moments like these, the Church is called to do what she has always done: to stand with those who suffer, to pray without ceasing, and to remind one another that even amid ashes, Christ has not abandoned His people.” -Bishop Thomas A. Daly

As your diocesan family, we walk with you. We grieve with you. We pray with you. And we remain steadfast in hope that, with God's grace and the love of this community, what has been lost can be rebuilt.

"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." ~Matthew 11:28

Please continue to pray for all who have been affected by these devastating fires. May they know they are not alone.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how we work, learn, communicate, and participate in public life. How should Catholics respond?

Join the WSCC for our next Life. Justice. Peace. webinar, Intriguing Implications of Artificial Intelligence, featuring Fr. Philip Larrey, Ph.D., professor of the practice in the Department of Philosophy at Boston College and an internationally recognized scholar on AI, ethics, and the digital age.

Fr. Larrey will examine how AI affects human dignity, relationships, society, and our ability to respond responsibly to rapid technological change. He will also explore how the Church can help guide these developments toward outcomes that serve the human person and the common good.

Catholic Social Teaching reminds us that technological progress must remain at the service of people—not the other way around. Join Catholics across Washington for this timely conversation about approaching AI with faith, reason, and respect for human dignity.

📅 Thursday, August 20, 2026
⏰ 12:00–1:00 PM PT
📍 Online via Zoom

🔗 Register: https://bit.ly/4b7ROsD

Can’t attend live? Register anyway to receive the recording afterward.