Dear Bishop Olson,

Our Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth is in great need of a ministry and/or community of single mothers. I understand that there are many mom groups in the diocese, however, the struggles of a single working mother are different than those that are married and not the sole breadwinner of the home. I am a single mother of two young children, six and seven. We attend St. Patrick's Cathedral regularly. I am active in my faith. My children are enrolled in religious formation at St. Patrick's Cathedral and I strive to grow in my Catholic faith and thus, try to provide an example for my children to follow.

The Pope recently addressed a single mother this week saying, "I know it's not easy to be a single mother. I know that people can sometimes look askance at you, “You’re a brave woman because you're capable of bringing these two daughters into the world. ... You respected the life you were carrying inside you and God is going to reward you for that and he does reward for you for that. Don't be ashamed. ... I congratulate you." If Pope Francis can recognize that the struggle is real for single mothers such as myself, then why are we as single mothers so underrepresented in our Church in the U.S. and in our diocese?

In August of 2014, I attended the Midwest Catholic Family Conference and I found I was the only single mother there. While I could relate to many of the topics discussed, there was nothing specifically catered towards single mothers, and the dynamics of a family unit were not typical of my own, making me feel lonely and misplaced. When the church speaks of family, we are often left out and seeing this first hand at the conference, reaffirmed it. Why is this so? I yearn for a group of other mothers like myself, to come together in whatever spiritual journey we currently find ourselves living and share our faith with fellowship in mind. The goal of this ministry would be to foster the Catholic faith in ourselves and, in essence, our children. We single mothers do not fall into the typical category of young adult or mom groups.

It is my vision, goal and desire to create a ministry for single mothers to be guided in their faith, share their financial, emotional, and spiritual struggles; where childcare is not an issue and the time to meet does not interfere with our working hours. I know I cannot be the only single mother yearning for something more, but not finding it.

I have done my research, and in all of Texas, I found only one similar group such as the one I propose.  (http://www.stmaustin.org/catholic-single-parents) To me this is a travesty. We are not feeding the mothers who need spiritual guidance, social fellowship in a faith-based environment and thus, could potentially be losing part of our flock. These mothers and myself, need a community/ministry where we can do just that. I have been discerning this call to start a group like this and I know there are other single mothers who need community. It is my hope and prayer that you take this into consideration, and provide me an opportunity to meet with you personally to further discuss this, as I too discern my own role in leading this group. 

In addition, if you have the time, I suggest reading these articles I found interesting that touch on this very topic I speak of. I hope that you take the time to read them.
 https://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/ByIssue/Article/TabId/735/ArtMID/13636/ArticleID/1821/Catholic-single-parents-seek-acknowledgment.aspx 

“Church can be an incredibly lonely place. It was why I stopped going for a time. It’s why some Sundays I can barely drag myself there just to sit in the pew alone. Surrounded by families. And married couples. So many families and couples.”
http://aleteia.org/2014/10/29/single-and-catholic/

Thank you for your time and I am in prayer to hear directly from you soon. 

In Christ, 

Rita Vigil