Catholic organizations that serve in Middle Eastern countries are urgently in need of support to help suffering and persecuted Christians and other religious minorities being attacked and driven from their homes. Donations can be given to:

Catholic Relief Services. For information about seven ways to help, visit the CRS website Donate online at www.crs.org or call 1-877-435-7277 (8 a.m.-11 p.m. ET) or mail to Catholic Relief Services, P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, MD 21297-0303.

Aid to the Church in Need, an international Catholic charity under the guidance of the pope, which has given over $12 million in aid to Syrian Christians. Donate online at www.churchinneed.org or call 1-800-628-6333 or mail to Aid to the Church in Need, 725 Leonard St., P.O. Box 220384, Brooklyn, NY 11222.

Catholic Near East Welfare Association, an agency of the Holy See active in Iraq for more than 50 years, which is sending emergency funds to Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena and Chaldean and Syriac Catholic archbishops. Donate online at www.cnewa.org, call 1-800- 442-6392, or mail to CNEWA, 1011 First Ave., New York, NY 10022-4195.